Infinity Crossfire

OK, so Raine got a new computer, but it did not happen without a few hitches. We ordered Infinity from Cyberpowersystems...3 days later she's ready to ship. Wednesday = a knock on the door. A *very* big box arrives:



Out comes Infinity:





but all is not well - she won't light up, and her enormous graphics card is wonky...several phone calls later, it turns out her graphics card has snapped her mother board:



Either Raine waits another week, or infinity goes back in her box, into our car, and 150 miles North East to Newcastle (where she's just come from):



We end up in a really grotty hotel, with 'self cleaning' toilets (ie it sprays the floor every time someone leaves, and so is always soaking) and carpets which they are waiting to self hoover, but which have yet to do so:



Next morning we leave the hotel at first light, and go to Cyberpower HQ with infinity:



We then go and entertain outselves in the nearby Metro Centre, where we magically find a 'Wii Fit' with balance board. After this amazing piece of luck we get a phone call to say Infinity's all better. We go and pick her up. Drive (very carefully!) home, make a significant mess while unpacking, and plug her in:



Lights, graphics, action!

And that is the story of Infinity Crossfire.

Obama, Obama, Obama!!!

Last night we watched that great moment - Obama elected, so amazing, so wonderful. His speech, at 5am our time, was just incredibly perfect - every word of it. Everyone's worried he won't live up to his potential, but I think if he continues to work outside the Washington box he can't fail...even if things don't go smoothly he's forging a new path, and that has to be a success.

Raine and I stayed up through the night with the help of a 100% American diet! We went to ASDA early in the evening (ASDA Walmart - yeah!), and were determined to buy all American themed food. We should have been filmed, we spent over half an hour criss crossing the aisles, to the cries of - "that's American," and "that could work." We came back with Hot Dogs, Philideplphia (soft cheese), bagels, Budweiser, French's mustard, and Ben and Jerry's ice cream...never has there been a more ridiculously stereotyped shopping basket, but that's what we were aiming for, and I think it was an outright success. We also added a load of energy drinks, we got all the cheap Red Bull imitations, so we could conduct a scientific test on them - turns out a 22p one called 'Emerge' is best - I realise that's the most important fact in this blog;-)

So, to a new world order, I toast you with a bagel and a Bud...