Spent most of last night watching Lost season 1 and installing windows updates after blasting the laptop back to factory setup. Now I'm running the Windows Hardware Compatibility Test's System Stress Test. It's definitely hitting the system pretty hard. After almost 3 hours straight the exhaust of the laptop is clocking in at 100 degrees. Who knows what the cpu is at, as I can't find any software to determine that.

MACHINE_CHECK_EXCEPTION 0x0000009C (0x00000000, 0xF77E9050, 0xA2000000, 0x8C010400)

Joy. I thought maybe reinstalling windows on top of itself might work. Nope. the laptop is in electronic pain. Luckily its under warranty and will be going in later for some repairs that were already neded. Now they may get to replace something extra. Hehe luckily between safe mode and a Linspire LiveCD I was able to rescue everything I needed. Now it's time to blast it back to factory specs so the techs don't get a look at anything "sensitive" on my harddrive.

I would like to give props to the Toshiba support reps who have been very nice and helpful. They actually recognized some intelligence and weren't asking me to do things like "reboot and see if it works"

Brit and I woke up starving this afternoon so we ventured out into the still somewhat new to us neighborhood in search of food. Two minutes from our place we found the 5 Star Deli and it's new owner, Femi. Although Femi said he didn't speak very good english (he actually did) and just about everything was written in Russian, he helped us pick out some good food for lunch. I'm not sure what all is in this food, but it was delicious. The bowl of pork and potatoes was by far our favorite. The stuffed cabbage, which came out fresh while we were there, was very good too. Apparently they do catering too if anyone needs some good russian/european food. Now we're stuffed and watching Rollergirls and munching down on some tasty cookies.

Five Star Deli 4204 S Arlington Heights Rd Arlington Heights, IL 60004

After closing down Hangouts we headed to ihop with some of the bands (America's Sweetheart, and members from Donkey Punch and Juicehead) for late night grub and coffee.

I think these pictures are of donkey punch. I guess ill find out tomorrow morning. Another kickass show @ Hangouts in Wheeling, IL!

Went out to the Penny Road Pub for the first time to see Curse This Metal Body play. Was a great show, ending in a cover of "Dead Souls". Kick ass! Penny Road Pub is a pretty cool place with two completely different levels. Upstairs its the typical bar and downstairs its more the underground club. Very cool place.

Penny Road Pub 28w 705 Barrington, IL 60010

Picked up a box of Java logs at the grocery store for our fireplace in the new apartment. Apparently they are made from Recycled Spent Coffee Grounds. So far it's just the same as any other fake log. From the box:

What do they smell like? Java-Logs have a very mild sweet scent but most importantly, it has "NO CHEMICAL SMELL".

Why is Java-Log better for my chimney? When used as directed the Java-Log produces 86% less creosote while at the same time generating 96% fewer residues, thus contributing to a safer environment and cleaner fireplace.

How was the Java-Log invented? Rod Sprules created the Java-Log concept in his aprtment one day where he used dried coffee grounds from his coffee maker filter, combined it with candle wax and then compressed it in an old cigar tube. It burned so well that he then made prototypes and gave them to friends to try. The formula was redesigned several times before it became what it is today.

Another session of Things on My Cat, starring Annabelle, the only cat that will put up with us.

Bunki is enjoying the new view she has over the living room with the stairs.

After a long hard day at work I came home to a package with a present. Long long ago I ordered a sparks hat online or at least I was pretty sure I did. It never came and I never saw a charge on my credit card for it, so I wasn't too concerned and thought maybe I hadn't actually placed the order. With this delivery my sanity has been somewhat verified, I did place the order. In the package with the hat and the sticker I got a short note that read "Due to technical challenges we weren't able to get these items out to you in a timely manner. Please accept them free of charge with our apologies. Thanks for your understanding and continued support. We really do appreciate you! The Folks at Sparks" No word on whether they tried the sparks bomb recipe I included in the order comments though. :)