To everything (turn, turn, turn). There is a season (turn, turn, turn).

Tonight's post comes to you from a brand new machine. It was time; I put the old one down, out of its (uh, my) misery. Not sure that I'm done with it because there are some issues with backed up files and recovery from Carbonite that I hope to resolve in the next week.

However, setup took only a couple hours, and I mean a full setup. I picked up a quad-core processor Gateway machine with 3GB of RAM and 500GB of space for only $649 at BestBuy. I didn't need a monitor or a printer, both of which were part of a bigger package they offered, so I kind of think I got a steal.

We'll see. But I'd like to thank President Bush for the new computer. In all, it cost me $100 given that most of us got $600 from the government to keep us happy, er, spending. Mine is due to be in the bank next week, but I got a mailer from the feds two days ago, so I was comfortable enough in the certainty of my gift that I went ahead and made the purchase.

Besides, the entire thing is tax deductible for me given that the only thing I do on this machine is work, and I'm not just saying that to cover my tail. Blogs, side work, real work, production, etc. It's all done right here, and so a smokin' fast machine is really necessary to maximize my efforts.

And I have to say: When I say I set this bad boy up in a couple hours, I mean that I installed all my software, everything, in this amount of time. To be honest, I'm not seeing a ton of difference between this machine and the one Mom got earlier this year, which was a dual-core Acer.

However, she doesn't work her machines to death like I do, and the first thing I noticed on this bad boy is how much I can do at once. I don't think my single-threaded processing speed is any faster, but I think I can do three things at once, which is a bonus.

Alas, there is severe weather across Oklahoma, which means I might have to work later tonight -- and that's OK because I installed my VPN software already. It's kind of crazy how fast this thing is, but I have to give props to Toad for beating it into my head about the need for at least a dual-core processor. He said that quad-core would be ideal, and when I saw the price for this one, I couldn't pass it up.

Anyway, thanks George for the cash and Toad for the perseverance!

In the spirit of my good mood, I'll leave you with what I believe to be the song of the year so far. Coldplay is the most interesting rock band of the past several years, and the fact that they poop greatness reminds me a bit of U2. And by that I mean that even their poops smell good.

You get it. The first single from their new CD is called Viva La Vida, and I dare you, double-dog dare you, to be in a bad mood after hearing it. It's upbeat. It's lyrically interesting. Absolutely love it.