Well, recently I have reached a spending or upgrade dilemma. I had to decide between upgrading my computers video card, which would also force me to upgrade my power supply or get a new digital camera. Currently, I have a BFG Technologies GeForce 6200 AGP video card with 256k of video ram installed in my computer. As you know, I have been playing a lot of Battlefield2 online and it seems that the game was not certified to be played with that particular card. After getting the game, I found out that the game will only support the GeForce 6800; previously I had an ATI Radeon 9600 card with only 128k. I was having video issues before I got the new video card and am still having issues with the current video card. So I was debating on upgrading my video card again. However it seems that the AGP version of the card is more expensive than the PCI express version. Software developers and hardware manufacturers keep pushing the consumers to upgrade their hardware.
I also had previously sold my 3.2 mp digital camera with the hopes of eventually upgrading my camera to something better and get back into a hobby of mine, photography. Anyway, the video card that I wanted is not available locally and the newer video card is only available in limited areas and is pretty expensive, also the newer card requires to have a minimum power supply installed of a 350 watt computer power supply. So in reality, you end up having to upgrade 2 components instead of just the one.
At the same time, I started to look into the cameras available and what mega pixel that the cameras came in. I wanted to get another Olympus for 2 reasons, 1. I already have the storage media from the previous camera and 2; I really like the way the Olympus cameras were made and handled. I ended up deciding on getting the camera. I picked up the Olympus SP-350, 8 mega pixel camera and ended up getting a larger storage media. In a way, it ended up costing less and upgrading the video card.
Well, after purchasing the camera, I went into work so that I could both test the camera (play with the new toy) and get some lunch. I added a couple of pictures that I took with the new camera on my textamerica moblog site, which you can check out by clicking on that preview to the right, just above the links to the other sites. I have to admit, I’m really impressed with the quality and details that show in the pictures.
Well, I’ve reached “middle age” this past week, next year is a Yakudoshi year for me, so at that time, I’ll have to be very careful.
What is Yakudoshi?
Bad luck ages are referred to as yakudoshi, with yaku meaning “calamity” or “calamitous” and doshi signifying “year(s).” These years are considered critical or dangerous because they are believed to bring bad luck or disaster.
For men, the ages 24 and 41 (or 25 and 42 in Japan) are deemed critical years, with 41 being especially critical. It is customary in these unlucky years to visit temples and shrines to provide divine protection from harm. In Hawaii, it has become a widespread tradition among men of Japanese ancestry to celebrate the 41st birthday with a festive yakudoshi party or gathering to ward off the bad luck or disaster that may strike. The birthday person should wear red to bring good health, vitality and long life.
The equivalent yakudoshi ages for women are 18 and 32 (19 and 33 in Japan), with 32 thought to be a particularly hard, terrible or disastrous year. Like the age 41 for men, precautions are taken to ward off bad luck, and some women in Hawaii celebrate their 32nd birthday with a special yakudoshi party. What is Kanreki?
For men, the 60th birthday is called kanreki, the recognition of his “second infancy.” The Japanese characters in the word kanreki literally mean “return” and “calendar.” The traditional calendar, which was based on the Chinese calendar, was organized on 60-year cycles. The cycle of life returns to its starting point in 60 years, and as such, kanreki celebrates that point in a man’s life when his personal calendar has returned to the calendar sign under which he was born.
Traditionally, friends and relatives are invited for a celebratory feast on one’s 60th birthday. It is customary for the celebrant to be given a red hood and wear a red vest. These clothes are usually worn by babies and thus symbolize the celebrant’s return to his birth.
From the information that I found and added here, I’ll have to plan a party for my 41st birthday to ward off the bad luck or disaster… I’m not really looking forward to that time…
Anyway, since I didn’t have any money at that time, I held off on holding a private birthday celebration for myself since I don’t like to tell anyone when my birthday is, I just want to keep it to myself. So tonight when I stopped into the supermarket, I picked up a single sized cake and a couple of other things. After getting home, I had my cake… yeah, I suppose it’s the lonely guy thing, but at least I had the company of Samantha.
Other than that, I guess that’s all I have for now.
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