Christmas 2010
The kids slept in fairly late. It must be part of growing up, they’re a little more level-headed about the presents. Which is not to say they’re “normal.” We kept a strange little ritual Rachel started years ago. Everybody had to open their presents while wearing oven mitts. A present is opened, and the mitts are passed. Apparently it’s a side-effect of Rachel’s artist mentality. However it occurred, it’s now bizarre family tradition.

A few days ago Rachel observed there were more presents for Joshua than there were for her. It was any easy enough problem to solve. I got the chocoholic a few boxes of chocolates. She can probably self-medicate for a few weeks now. Unless her Mom finds an open box. There can be tension with two chocoholics in the house.

Joshua had asked me if I could speed up the graphics on his computer. When he plays his favorite historical game the display sometimes slowed to a crawl or froze up because the onboard graphics weren’t good enough for gaming. He got a Sapphire Radeon 5770 graphics card, and because it uses more power, he got a bigger power supply too. I told him he would install it, and I’d help him. He said, “You’re the coolest Dad ever.”

After the presents were opened he brought his computer to the kitchen table and he got a little computer hardware education. He took the case off and I had him examine the different power connectors and where they were attached. He removed the power supply, disconnected it from the hardware, installed the new supply and got everything re-connected.

Then we installed the new video card. It was a pretty cool-looking card with a big fan on it. It’s also capable of handling a couple monitors at a time. All that capability requires two slots instead of one. I showed Joshua how to break out an access panel and he broke out the second. Then he inserted the card and hooked up the power cable. After putting the case back on he took it back to his room and hooked everything back up.

I was a little apprehensive because I’d forgotten to disable the on-board graphics before doing the installation. I didn’t expect a hardware conflict, but things happen. It booted up fine. Then he installed the video card drivers and everything was still fine. Joshua started his game and it looked pretty good. He could quickly tell the difference. Satisfied with our efforts, I left him to his game.

For the rest of the day I got updates of how it was doing. He’d come to me smiling and say how he’d increased the frame rate or detail level and it was still smooth. Eventually he was at the maximum settings and it was still working beautifully.

He’d shown me before how he’d click on an area to change the view and it would take a long time for the view to display. Now he could scroll around and it was like a movie camera. It’s a pretty impressive change. When he’s playing his game now he can barely conceal a smile. He’s a happy boy.

Eventually Rachel got him away from his computer and they played with their new iPod Touches. They broadcast video back and forth like the giddy teenagers they can be. It was a Christmas of memorable good times.

Patricia told me later that she’d heard Joshua tell his friend Ryan that it was his best Christmas ever. It was his Dad’s best Christmas too.

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