New Computer

Over Thanksgiving weekend, Rob built a new computer. He is so amazing. He read books and did TONS of research on the hardware he needed to buy. I don't know he does it.
Unfortunately, when we tried to load SIMS2, we had major graphics problems. Bought a new video card thinking that would resolve everything. Was able to play for about 10 minutes and then the computer started to self-reboot. What the hell is going on? This amazing guy I'm married to starts researching and talking to people who know computers and he figures it out! Personally, I would have pitched the thing out the window. Patient, I'm not.
Rob figured out that there were multiple problems. First, when he downloaded a service pack for the operating system, there seems to be a corruption problem. So, when he reinstalled the operating system software, he left the service pack off until Microsoft fixes it. Then he discovered that there is a conflict between the Norton software and the Adobe program so we bought new Norton software and that was resolved. Now, onto the game. He scanned the disks that came with the game (how does he know to do that????) and found several damaged files on the game so we got another copy from Walmart.
Last Wednesday night, he began game installation. When I came home Thursday morning, I gave it a try and IT WORKED!!!! Yay! . If you haven't tried SIMS2 yet, go get it! It's amazing! There is so much more the SIMS can do in this version and the graphics are TONS better than the last version. The kids actually grow up!
Good books I've read recently (when the computer acts up, I get more reading done. Go figure) are:
Teen Idol by Meg Cabot - This is classified as young adult. It was a very cute story about a high school student named Jenny who has to show the new guy around the school. Only the whole school doesn't know that the new guy is actually one of Hollywood's hottest stars who is there undercover posing as a student researching an upcoming role. I really enjoyed the story and think the author does a fantastic job of capturing the teenage personality.
'Til Death Do Us Part by Kate White - This is the third story in a mystery series that features a true crime writer named Bailey Weggins who writes for GLOSS magazine and finds herself in the center of murder investigations in her spare time. This story centers around Greewich, Connecticut when Bailey is asked to check into some deaths that seem suspicious. Bailey isn't sure there is anything going on at first. The first two victims were bridesmaids along with Bailey in a wedding several month prior. After the third bridesmaid dies, Bailey begins to think she may be next. This was a good story with a lot of twists and turns in the plot that kept me guessing all the way to the end.
The Apprentice by Tess Gerritsen - This is the second story in a mystery series that features Boston PD detective Jane Rizzoli. Now that The Surgeon (the killer in the first book) is in prison, Jane is ready to move on to her next case. When sadistic murders occur, the pattern suggests that The Surgeon is somehow behind it. Rizzoli thinks the madman is basing his attacks on the twisted techniques of The Surgeon and ultimately Rizzoli has to face her greatest fears when he manages to escape from prison. Very intense story and a lot of graphic detail. I especially liked the final showdown scene between Rizzoli and The Surgeon. The next book in the series, The Sinner, sounds good and I look forward to reading it soon.
I have read 105 books this year so far. The year is almost over and I hope to get that number up to 110. Happy Reading and SIMming!