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20 October, 2005
Ok .. so it’s been a few days since my last post .. a lot has happened ..
I’ve had a constant battle with HP on fixing my laptop .. I’m not sure what award they got to qualify for “award winning support” .. maybe the “most cost effective outsourcing of support staff” award .. in a nutshell, they’ve screwed it all up and my laptop is still sitting in a box at my front door, ready to be shipped.
The Cars, Part 1000:
If you’re just getting to hear this story, I’ve got 2 1990 Mazda RX-7s. The black car, which is mostly stock, and the white car, which has almost nothing stock from under the hood. The black car is to be my reliable daily drive, while the white car my fun, fast, and sexy weekend ride. The black car bit it with no warning. When I got the white car, I had a lot of fun driving it, so I drove it to work a lot .. like the first month solid. THEN, I got rear-ended by a Jeep Grande Cherokee. I was not happy. That night, I went home, and decided to pull the black car out of the garage, and put the white car in until it had gotten it’s repairs. To my dismay, the black car would not start. The engine turns by way of the starter, but it will not go on it’s own. So, while the white car was getting fixed, Tami and I shared a car .. which sucks, but shortly after I got it back, I went on driving it. That’s the short recap .. on to current events ..
This week .. My white car died. It’s been having “issues” for a while, and my mechanic buddy and I have been working on it, like replaced the fuel pump .. Tuesday when I was on my way to his house to continue our work, it finally gave up. Luckily, I made it into his driveway before it did. So, we messed with it, to no avail. Wednesday, we replaced the fuel filter. It seemed to to get better, but still remained in the “undriveable” status. Next is to replace the spark plugs and get the fuel injectors cleaned. BUT, I am going to change our repair focus back to the black car, as it should be, as Tami helped me realize, the ONE car that I keep running at all times. It IS afterall, my daily driver, isn’t it?! So for now, the white car will sit bleeding in Ray’s driveway and once it’s fixed, I’m getting rid of it. I can’t break myself for a car. It’s just a car! Tami will be so proud of me! 
Finances hit all time low.
So .. in trying to pay off these two loans (wood floors and living room set) that I’ve been avoiding for so long before their “interest-free” time ends, we’ve gone broke. Litterally. It really hurts. I went $500 OVER my credit card limit (I don’t know how that’s possible) .. It’s REALLY stressed Tami out, which is a lot of my fault. I came to her in a “we need to talk” method, which is really the worst way you can start a serious conversation .. but, I really thought it was time she really knew what our situation is like, especially since it had hit such a rock bottom. I want to blame myself so badly, but looking back, there’s isn’t a lot I could have done about it all (except not avoid paying them off earlier) .. but we really haven’t had many “wants” purchases. My laptop was hardly a real want. I did want a laptop, but Tami needed a new computer, and my old one is perfect for her .. and I REALLY didn’t get one that blew my mind like I wanted to .. I really did shoot low (the difference between my want, and what I got, is about $2000) .. The one thing we didn’t absolutely need right then, was the hard wood floors .. but the cats were slowly destroying our carpet, and with the introduction of Bebe, our kitten, they would have been absolute crap by now, so it would have become a need.
Work:
Work sucks. Period. It’s a fact of life. I know that every job I’ll have, even if I own my own company, will suck in some fashion. I don’t know why I even decided to write about work .. it’s the same story.
We (the developers) have an idea to make things 1000% better, “V” or “S” get ahold of the idea, but don’t fully understand it. Instead of learning more to understand it, then twist the idea to fit in what they do understand, and the final result ends up making everything worse.
Prime example, we wanted to bring the office to more of a paperless office. Where papers CAN’T get lost on someone’s desk for a year after they quit. I did research on scanners and document managment software, and came up with a good plan for how the process should run. We explained that when a document enters our office in the mailroom, it gets scanned and thrown away. It never makes it out of the mail room. There’s no need. Someone sitting at a desk “sorts” the mail, by opening the document, and telling our system what that document is. The document gets routed to whoever needs it, who will then place it in it’s final resting place.
Instead, a document enters, gets indexed in our mail tracking system (that we’ve had forever), and gets delivered to the same people the same way it always has. Then that person will find the final resting place for that document, and PRINT OUT a page containing bar codes which gets scanned with the document. Our system uses the barcode to put the document where it belongs, then everything is thrown out.
Now, not only are we PRINTING OUT MORE PAPER, but we’re giving MORE work to the people who shouldn’t have more, paper is still flying around our office at the speed of a ‘93 Ford Festiva, and we’ve had to hire ADDITIONAL people to scan the documents. WHY did the idea change so much? Because we already bought 3 $9000 scanners (which run on windows 95 .. aka, they suck bigger balls then Jenna Jamison has ever seen) and we needed to justify having them. AND GET THIS, since we’re doing so many documents, they want to get 2 more scanners, this time at $10,000 a peice. Can anybody else in this office spell R-E-T-A-R-D-E-D?!
Mike, you are lucky you got out of here when you did. If I had only this job in my life, and nothing else (Tami, house, debt, etc), then I would probably sleep with a candle next to my bed slowly burning a hampster on a wheel that is tied to the trigger of a loaded gun duct taped to my mouth. But alas, I leave work, and find a happier place.
Speaking of, Tami should be here at any moment to pick me up.
Song of the moment:
No music going .. how boring
Site of the day:
Heavy.com
A very entertaining collection of humerous movies and sound. Including, my favorite, the GI Joe spoofs. You gotta see those!
PS Check back often, but don’t get mad I haven’t posted, remember, I don’t have a lappy at home to type sweet nothings into your ear with.
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13 October, 2005
Today, is Yom Kipur, a day of atonement in which we should all ask for forgiveness for the wrong doings we have done. I think it’s a really cool holiday, and think that it’s placement in being the highest of the Jewish holidays is a very good thing. One of the (many) things I didn’t like about my “former religious experience” is that it wasn’t very down to earth. In Catholicism (oops, I named it), if I were to lie to someone, I could simply jump into the nearest confessional and G-d would release me of all sin and burden. In Judaism, it’s not like that. First, I need to seek my victim’s forgiveness first, as it wasn’t a sin against G-d, but them. So, beginning at Rosh Hashanah, one is to begin doing just that. Seeking forgiveness against other people. Then, today, we ask for G-d’s forgiveness. Not as individuals, but as a community. Think of it this way, sure FEMA dropped the ball with Katrina, but it’s OUR fault as a community for electing *cough*someone*cough* into office who then hired someone to run FEMA. Therefore, it is OUR mistake, and we should all ask forgiveness from those effected by the slow relief.
Now, the smaller part of me, the “true” beer drinking, deer killin’, blonde hair stalkin American does not agree. He says, “Naw man! Fuck dat. Dat shi ain’t mah damn-ol’ problem. Tit sucks what happened to ‘em, but what the G-d damn am I gunna do ’bout tit?” (Notice the well placed G-d damns and tits) But the rest of me thinks that this is one of the most productive ways we can look at ANY situation. If we ALL take responsibility, then we ALL are obligated to help and everyone will get help who needs it.
Ok .. moving on to EVENTS:
Went to work yesterday. It sucked.
Came home later then I should have.
Went to dinner with Tami’s ‘rents.
Went to services at the Temple. The English parts keep my attention.
Came home.
Went to bed.
Woke up.
Went back to bed.
Woke up.
Showered.
Didn’t go to services today.
Went to Temple for a “discussion group.”
Didn’t like what they were discussing.
Came home.
Watched TV.
Helped Tami make a rather large break through in her life.
Read the story that came of the break through.
Listened some more.
Wrote this blog.
Sneezed.
Went to dinner (sushi).
Went to play poker at “Mike the man of steel”’s house.
Came home broke.
Went to sleep.
Rinsed.
Repeated.
Song o’ the day:
Catherine Wheel (Chrome) - Crank
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10 October, 2005
Today ended up being a really nice day. It was REALLY quiet at work. Not only did we not hear from anybody after our 9:30 am meeting, but the four of us didn’t really even talk very much. In fact, I didn’t even listen to any music today, and that’s just damn strange. Although I did have my velvet covered headphones on most of the afternoon, for no apparent reason. I think they are become a security blanket for me. They are big, and velvet lined, and don’t squeeze too hard on my head, so I can wear them for hours without hurting my ears like most headphones do.
The morning was nicely spent with a rather light and short meeting (as I mentioned) and reading Fark. We ate at Jimmy Johns, which I half like; the subs are good, but the quantity kind of lacks. The afternoon was completely wasted on watching random videos from a site that Wes sent me the link. It was mindless and entertaining, which is exactly what I look for in a random-video website.
After work, I met Tami and one of her kinda-sorta co-workers from hillel at the Black Dog. The discussion they had about current affairs was a little to reminicent of things going on at my job, that tend to get me a little emotional (in a “throw a chair across the room” kind of way), so I ended up walking next door to Mike’s house. I felt kind of bad about dropping in. I did call before I got there, but it was as I was walking across the street, but Jamie was sleepin on the “aids sofa” and was awoken by my stopping by. They did their best to make sure I didn’t feel uncomfortable about coming over, which did make me feel a little better, but not that much.
So, we finally got home. I took a poop, and now I sit here writing this while Tami is busy typing away on her blog. We’re totally “bloggers” now, it’s insane.
Ok .. I’m done .. for now.
Song of the moment:
Queens Of The Stone Age
Songs for the Deaf (2002)
03 - First It Giveth
Site of the day: www.darlugo.com
Random videos and other assorted fun things
Fin
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9 October, 2005
Well .. Mike, I think, has successfully gotten me hooked on Desperate Housewives .. which is as shocking as it sounds. I was steered that direction while Tami and I had coffee with Mike and Jamie this evening at The Black Dog (side note: their mosaics are really good .. they’re like a hot choc. but with a coffee kick)
Last night was Mike’s birthday party, which was a lot of fun .. I like how they all have an appended nickname, like ‘Theory Chris” (who Tami and I are calling “Slanty-eyed Chris” due to his comment about himself .. how awesome is that name?!) , and I can only wonder what kind of appendage I will get.
We played a game, hell if I can remember the name of it, but it’s like a bastardized version of win loose or draw. When Mike asked me if I would be interested in playing, I was taken aback by my hesitation and apprehention .. all at once it hit me how much I keep myself out of social situations that I would have jumped on, or even initiated on my own, only a couple of years ago. I don’t know if I lack friends that I can feel that comfortable around, or if I am becoming shy in my “old ripe age” (oh yeah, happy birthday Mike) .. what happened to the old me .. the old get up and do something every night, hip, unpredictable me? Am I still trapped somewhere inside .. or is this who I really am, and I’ve been faking my own non-lazy/anti-social behaviors?
I have also noticed that I avoid deep thought. I remember I used to sit in a private place and think. Not about anything specifically, just think. I once came up with (and executed) an idea to convince my next door neighbor, Lindsey, who was 1 month younger then I growing up, that I was G-d only on the basis that the universe, and she knew it, had not, nor could not, exist without my existence and she could not prove otherwise. Granted, she was pretty gullible back then, but regardless, that had to take quite a bit of deep thought for a 14 year old to come up with. Where’s that guy? Who knows.
I’m back working on the radio station. If you are uneducated, I’ve been cooking up an online radio station project for a few years. It has gone though three distinct lives so far. From being a single-page website (on angelfire), and a ShoutCast server running from my house (I even had a dedicated internet connection JUST for the station once), to what I like to call a “Google Hog” with full working online request system (by working, I mean strung together with really dirty hacks .. it was held together with gum and string), which had over a million pages indexed on google (mostly because I had listed Amazon’s entire musical library). The version that I’m working on now will be my most energetic and ambitious to date. I hope to make a million dollars, and a lot of people happy with it. The actual radio station software seems very stable so far, and will handle a large load of listeners on multiple stations. I think the way it is setup will be an awesome way to handle our needs. Now, I just need to focus long enough to get SOMETHING up on the web. Work you damn fool!
The song of the moment: Cat Power - Good Clean Fun
Site of the day: MusicBrainz
Ok .. I think that’s a big enough post for the night .. we’ll see where my randomness takes us tomorrow .. join me, will you?
