OK, it finally works. I have my OCZ Vertex running in my Compaq Evo D510 using a Rosewill RC-203 IDE-SATA bridge adapter.

It's fast and quiet. I haven't had it working for long but I really wouldn't want to give it up. I'm not looking forward to that clunker with spinning disks on my desk at work tomorrow.

My OCZ Vertex SSD arrived yesterday. I don't have it working yet--not completely. In retrospect, I should have just installed the drive and rebuilt the system from scratch. I'd be time ahead by now. But I can tell you a few things.

The one time I remember hurting my Dad's feelings was when we were building a model. We were applying decals, and we could never get them to stay on the model for long. I observed that when I built a model with my uncle, he didn't have that problem.

"He's better at it than I am," he said. I nodded. "You didn't have to agree with that, you know," he added.

Anandtech released the most thorough article on SSDs I've ever seen. I'm not sure exactly what it set out to be. It's a review of the new OCZ Vertex SSD, but it also explains virtually every SSD technology on the market today, and the strengths and weaknesses of each--over the course of a 30-page odyssey.

The takeaway is this: The OCZ Vertex, which sells for as little as $128 at Newegg for the 30 GB version, gives the much more expensive Intel X25 series a run for its money.

There's no explanation for why some crimes happen, but in the case of the murder of Pastor Fred Winters last week during his Sunday sermon at First Baptist Church in Maryville, Ill., there is an explanation. And it's troubling.

The suspect was receiving treatment for mental illness. It seemed to be working. But the insurance company didn't want to pay for it.

Thanks to this decision, a wife is without a husband, two teenage daughters are without a father, and a church is without a pastor.

Various analysts are blaming the current depression on people like me. The reasoning goes like this: I have money in the bank, therefore, I should be out spending it, for the greater good, to stir the economy.

Let's correct that right now.

I went to several estate sales today (it's what I do on Saturdays, after all), but one was memorable. Some sales just jump out at you, and this one had evil genius/mad scientist written all over it.

I am Scottish. I try to stretch nickels into dollars. Sometimes it's because I feel the need, but sometimes I do it just to see if I can.

Don't try to insult me by calling me a stingy miser. It won't work, because I'll take it as a compliment.

And yes, this has something to do with Scotch tape.

I awoke this morning at my usual time. It was Saturday. I really just wanted to roll back over, pull the covers over me, and sleep another 30 minutes, but it was Saturday. And that's not what I do on Saturdays. It didn't matter that I was tired, and it didn't matter that it was 10 degrees out. Staying out of the cold isn't what I do on Saturdays.

My longtime friend Steve brought up a good point as we discussed our job situations. He said he read that some companies may be using the current DEPRESSION (I hate that r-word, let's call things what they are) as an excuse to lay people off that they've been putting off because it would hurt morale.

The idea makes a lot of sense.