Back up and running

Update: The new X-box DVD drive arrived Tuesday, and when I returned home from work I immediately set upon my system, tinkering and fiddling with getting the new part in and testing it. The result: SUCCESS! We have working X-box again! I tested the drive out with a couple games and a DVD, but didn't have time for much else. Yesterday, I had the opportunity to completely reassemble the box, and play some significant Halo 2 and Splinter Cell. Boy, playing on an X-box that I've repaired with my own two hands is extra gratifying!

In other news, I am taking myself out to the ballgame tomorrow with coworkers. Mariners vs the Cleveland Indians. Initially my son and wife were coming as well, but because our plan is to drive up to Ferndale this weekend to visit family and go to the vaunted Ferndale Old Settler's Picnic (the big annual small-town event of the city), we figured he needed sleep more than a Mariner's game.

I just realized that I haven't entered anything Star Wars on my blog for a while, and that's just no good! So, Factoid of the Day:

In Episode III, in the beginning scenes when Count Dooku had "kidnapped" Chancellor Palpatine, Palpatine had fed Dooku a plan whereby he was supposed to engage Kenobi and Skywalker, kill Obi Wan, and face Anakin in a one on one duel. Then, Dooku would allow Anakin to defeat him and take him into custody, where Dooku would live out the rest of the fight as a well-cared-for prisoner of war. With Dooku out of the way, the Republic would win the war, and Palpatine would seize control of the government, releasing the Count to serve as a vice-emperor of sorts. So the order to kill Dooku by Palpatine must have been quite shocking to the Count indeed!