2014 - A Strange Trip

As of the writing of this post, 2014 has about 2 hours left. Much has happened this year. I’m not going to go into current events that much (that’s what the Internet is for)…

I replaced my phone, my tablet, my computer, my printer, and 2 pairs of shoes. I went from part-time to full-time at work (it pays to actually show up). I made peace with somebody whom I’d been fighting with for a while (forgiveness is always better than revenge). I realized I was in love with someone, laid my cards on table & told her so. In hindsight, I may have driven her off forever, but it was something I had to say. It has been said that the truth will set you free. I told the truth, and I’ll eventually be free. Whatever will happen from this, I will still wish her well. My former boss sold me his HDTV. So I had to get an HD DVR box, and considerably upgraded my cable service. And I also got a Wi-Fi capable Blu-Ray player. Did I mention the computer that died only after I put about $400 worth of upgrades into it? I’ve found the best way to kill a day off is to go to my former workplace, and order a pizza. My best friend in the morning can be my morning cup of coffee. If I don’t end up puking it at work… When I did Christmas shopping this year, I could actually afford to get something for everyone. When it comes to the Christmas tree, Subway Gift Cards are a hot commodity. And my 6-year-old niece can use Amazon…

This isn’t everything that happened this year. But it’s here that this year has been a long strange trip. And, now on the cusp of 2015, I think the next year will be another strange trip. But life is more about the journey. And I will plan on enjoying the ride…

Air the grievances! Prepare for the Feat Of Strength!

Ok, today was Festivus. There was a little bit of the Airing of Greivances, but I’m skipping the Feat of Strength.

Finished my Christmas shopping rather early this year (last Wednesday, to be exact). Due to my work schedule, I was working 6 days straight up until Christmas Eve, and working in retail, I definitely want to avoid the crowds. So this meant doing it on my last day off before Christmas. I did most of it through Spamazon and Wally World. Normally, in previous years the finances were sufficiently bleak that I didn’t give much for Christmas presents. But this year, I am employed full-time, so I got gifts for those whom I’d would’ve otherwise not given gifts to.

Tomorrow is Christmas Eve, and there’s the big family reunion at Grandma’s house. Normally, I ask for an opening shift at work, so I can get out of there early and make the trip. This year (since current employer has paid vacation), I took a vacation day on Christmas Eve, so I can have the day off…

ANd I’m taking the day after Christmas off as well. Just so I can sleep in…

A Former Friend…

This song has been stuck in my head for quite some time. Too bad when it was originally released, it was a bomb. I’ve that it’s meaning is quite close to home. Every time it seems like a have a dream, and I seek to fulfill it, Reality has other plans. Dreams can be a good thing. But Reality always asserts itself. Sometimes you win, sometimes you can compromise, and sometimes Reality just crushes your dreams. But you can’t run from it forever. You can hide from it in your imagination and your day dreams, but eventually you have to face it. And the more you try to run from it, the less Reality will be willing to bargain with you when it’s finally time to face it.

You can have your dreams, but Reality will always temper them…

As the song says: ‘Please don’t ask me, ‘cause I don’t know why, but Reality used to be a friend of mine…’

It’s another holiday

So, Thanksgiving has come and past. This year, I went to my older sisters. Turkey was served. And it was good. Had my sister not invited me out, I would’ve gone with plan b: Chinese takeout while watching Football.

Most people don’t know the real reasons why the Pilgrims landed at Plymouth Rock. The Mayflower had run out of beer (when you consider the state of the water supply at the time, it was probably a healthier choice).

If you really want to pull a good prank, go to your favorite grocery store and ask whether or not they have any Soylent Green available… Then again, it can be really awkward if they haven’t seen the movie….

Hello World, for the umpteenth time….

It all happened Thursday the week before last. I was sitting at the computer, and it froze. It had never done it before, but the standard solution is to turn the computer off and turn it back on. Which I did. And when I rebooted it, all I got was a beeping tone. A quick Google search on my tablet revealed that my motherboard had most likely gone to The Beer Volcano & Stripper Factory. I had previously noticed that my mom used to use a tower with a similar chipset as to mine. So I made her an offer for it. She agreed, and I took it home. I spent over two hours moving hardware over to the new computer (same chipset, same processor socket), and I then started to restore the OS. At first, things were going great. Then I had to readjust something in the tower. After which I got nothing. No video. Pulled my video card, and still got graphics off the onboard chipset. My mother’s computer would be a no-go and I would be sending it back to her (along with an upgrade from an Intel Celeron to an Intel Core 2 Quad Core and a wi-fi card upgrade).

Back to square one. I went to Worst Buy and asked for an increase of my credit card. And the idiots approved me. So I went and ordered a new computer. And it arrived last Thursday. I got an HP 500-214. Among the specs:

• AMD A8 6500 quad-core processor, up to 3.5 GHz.
• 8 GB of ram, upto 32 GB is supported. Previous tower only supported 4GB, and I ran a 1 GB video card, so I only used 3 GB.
• It had Radeon HD 8650 graphics already integrated with multimonitor support. I went ahead and put my Radeon HD 7750 card in, because it has a HDMI port, and I do see using my HDTV as a display in the future.
• Integrated Wi-Fi and LAN. While I do have expansion cards for both LAN and Wi-Fi, they are all PCI cards, and the computer doesn’t have any PCI slots.
• USB 3.0. My external hard drive is USB 3.0, and I like being able to transfer files in few minutes, as compared to upwards of an hour. And I should also add that I wasn’t really panicking when my original tower died because I had a recent external back-up.
• There’s also a multi-card reader,but it doesn’t support MicroSD, so I’ll use my USB reader.

And there are a few caveats with this new computer:

• Lack of expansion bays. There were only 2 drive bays in the tower, and they were both occupied. I still have a couple of SATA ports to work with, so I may visit this problem later. Or I may just rotate my 3 1TB hard drives though my existing USB external drive.
• Wimpy power supply. Only 300W. This may become an issue with the next video card upgrade.
• Secured BIOS. It took me an hour+ to figure out how to even access it. Here’s a hint: use the wired USB keyboard to try to access it, as your wireless keyboard won’t work until the OS loads…
• Windows 8.1. Windows Vista was WinME, Service Pack 1. Windows 8 was/is WinME, Service Pack 2. It’s crap. And it was preloaded. But HP does publish Windows 7 drivers for all the internals, so it is possible to downgrade to Windows 7, which is what I did. I did make a system restore set before I wiped the drive, though.

I don’t think I’m going to be tinkering much with Linux on this box, as I’m not really sure what the driver situation is going to be. But with a 2 TB hard drive, I may be dabbling with virtual machines instead. I spent most of the day today installing software and patches (I had nothing else to do today since I had to take a sick day today).

When it comes to the customer experience scores, I’m getting the exact same scores that I got with my previous tower. But this was also with over $400 worth of upgrades to the previous tower. And the only ‘extra’s’ I’ve put into this one are the TV tuner and the video card (which is an apparent downgrade…).

So, Hello World. This is my new computer.

Haven’t felt good all day today.

Normally I don’t blog about when I get sick. But today, it was different. Last night, I felt my throat getting scratchy. This morning at about 2, I woke up and realized that I’m in no shape to work. It would’ve been a no-brainer with my previous employer (not to disclose where it was, but it was in food-service). If I was that sick, I just wouldn’t show up (it wasn’t my decision to make, it was the health code). I’m no longer in foodservice, but still I was in no shape to work. Actually if I had made to work, I would’ve been able to tough it out. But that morning commute would’ve been a doozy (4.5+ miles of walking to get to the bus).

So I called out. That in and of itself was an adventure, mainly getting a hold of someone at work. But I was able to get hold of someone, and my absence was duly noted. This will probably be my only sick day I take. I was normally scheduled for the next two days off anyway. I have paid sick leave, but the amount of time is finite.

I called in sick today. I never call in sick. The last time I was sick, I was literally sick (and was sent home from work).

It's all about the integrity people....

So I went to 7-11 Monday night. I switched my items and put them on the counter to check out. Clerk rang me up, I paid and I took my reciept. When I looked at the reciept,  I noticed that I want charged for a couple of items. I could've walked out of there and enjoyed my free items. But ill-gotten gains are in reality losses and not gains. So I spoke up and had the clerk ring me in for them. Yes, the owner of this 7-11 is a complete and total asshole, but my character is who I am. Besides, it's not good integrity that's on the line, it's mine. Honesty never was the best only. It's the only policy. Lie to me, and I will never have anything to do with you.

With that in mind I also voted that night. And aside from the Congressional race abd the initiatives, I abstained most of the races. My respect and my vote must be earned. And if you've did nothing but spout partisan politics, then you dint have enough character for public office, let alone my vote.

It's all about the integrity...

My paycheck is gone...

I got paid today. First thing I did was get on the computer, and started paying bills. All of them. And I paid all of them. One of them was the last payment for my poor judgment last July. I paid off my tv. And this alao means my wifi printer is now paid off as well (it was part of the deal with my tv).

Now if I can pay off $550 in 3 1/2 months, then perhaps I can be more aggressive in retiring my credit card debt. At one time, I was able to pay off all my credit cards. Maybe I should try that again...

I was paid today. And it was all gone in less than 8 hours. But my bills are paid....

More poor judgment…

Woe is me. I’ve done something that I will surely soon regret. Very recently, I exercised extremely poor judgment. I got an HD TV. Tomorrow, I will finally pay it off. So last night, I called Comcrap. And I re-ordered all the premium channels. And then I got an HD DVR cable box.

I may end up regretting this, but for now I can TV on my 60” the way it was supposed to be. Filling the entire 60” 16:9 screen rather than having the unnecessary black bars around the image. Although I won’t be around much to watch it, since I’m now full-time. But that’s why I got the DVR on my box. And with judicious use of a splitter, I can still use the TV tuner in my tower (and I can still add the second tuner card if I wanted to try it Linux again…)

I’m going to regret this….

More fun in the office

Ok, I know I previously said that the only mention of work in this blog would be that I have a job and nothing more. But there have been happenings there that I have to comment on.

Basically, long story story short, is that I’m finally full-time. Even for part-time, my current employer is great, but full-time is even better. No, I’m not going to mention where I’m working at in this blog (officially I will still just say that I have a job. Nothing more, nothing less). But it is a good company to work for. And yes, I still work for the previous employer who fired me. After all it is better to forgive than to seek revenge….

The game last night...

If it wasn't did the penalties last night, it would've been a blowout. But even with them, they still won. Russell Wilson had over 100 yards rushing.  Another threat from the back field besides Beast Mode. I'm not going to mention the name of the team we played last night because it has overtly racist overtones (it's kinda like the n word to native Americans). So I will call them Colin Mochrie. And we beat the hair back into Colin Mochrie....

It's over....

As of this writing, the Mariners were leading the LA Angels 4-0. But there will be no post-season for them this year in The New World Order (Mind-Control Division). The Oakland A's won the game 4-0. Seattle had been eliminated. But let us take heart. We still have King Felix. Alms unlike to many recent years, we're going to have a winning record....

But it still sucks that we're out of the playoffs....

It boils down to this...

The entire season boils down to this game. If the Mariners win this game (and the A's lose their game), a one game playoff will be forced. There's still hope for a postseason in Seattle. Currently, as this post was being written the A's were leading there game, but the trend has been for them to choke it like bunch of Inept Imperial Officers, so the opera isn't over to the fat lady sings....

One can only hope....

Nerd Card +1

It started a couple of weeks ago. I upgraded my video card from a Radeon HD 5450 to a Radeon HD 7750 core. Basically, heat is an issue, and I wanted a video card with a fan in it (and while I was at it, perhaps an upgrade). Installing the card came with its own issues. It was big. Yes, it is a PCI-e card, but it was a full sized card. My two previous Radeons were sized to fit in low profile towers as well, and so fitting wasn't an issue. This one, however, I had to disconnect all of my SATA cables *and* pull out all of my other expansion cards, just to get some space for my fingers. After reseating everything (including taking apart my tower again to put my hard drive cable back in the right slot so it could boot up again),  it booted up successfully. I didn't even have to upgrade or reinstall Catalyst. Then next up was to upgrade the cpu heatsink. I noticed the cpu temperature was close to the same level that is when I bought my laptop. Which means I need to clean the dust off of it. And I figured if I'm going to have to take it off again to clean it, I might as well or a better one on. Again, space was a concern during installation. But, after sourcing a long enough Philips screwdriver, I got it to fit. This was huge. But I can see that my processor is running a lot cooler now. And more importantly, I can now put the side panels back on the tower (my previous solution was to leave the side panel off and point a desktop fan at the motherboard. The new heatsink actually works even better). The one drawback to installing the heatsink s my wifi card for knocked loose, and I couldn't connect to the internet. Had I just jimmied it, I would've been back online right away. But I had to take the hard way, and nuke it from orbit, wiping the hard drive. Fortunately, I had just performed a full backup to my external hard drive earlier that day (and that took over 4 hours in an of itself)....

Long story short, my tower is running cooler and quieter, and abd backups are always a good thing....

Did I also mention that I now have The Lord of The Rings and Star Wars on Blu-ray? And I just got the James Bond 50th Anniversary box set on  Blu-ray?

So I guess while I put my tower back together that I can glory in the +1 to my Nerd Card....

Arrrgh!

There's nothing to really say here. I've said it all before in previous posts. Bye it bears repeating:

Today be International Talk Like A Pirate Day. So shiver your timbers, buckle your swash, splice the main brace, and grab the eyepatch, hook & the parrot.

More misadventures in e-commerce…

About three weeks ago, I got a Blu-Ray player for my birthday (actually I got an Amazon gift card). But I didn’t get any Blu Ray’s. I wasn’t really concerned. I just wanted something that I could Netflix on my 60” TV. And I found one that could also do Hulu Plus with (I had recently upgraded it). So I can watch South Park at will (and the recent Dr. Who episodes)…

But, like I said, I didn’t order any Blu-Ray’s. Until recently. What kind of geek would I be if I didn’t have a Blu-Ray of Star Wars and Lord Of The Rings. I have corrected that. They should arrive by Saturday….

So I wanted to do stuff today….

Today was my day off. I thought I’d be able to get away with upgrading the software on my phone today. Since last February, I’ve been running the Venom One ROM. The version I’ve been using is 5.8, and the current version is 7.0.1. So needless to say, it was time to download it. There was a problem, however. It’s called CenturyLink. I thought I was doing the right thing in switching to CenturyLink. But I now realize I was better off staying with Comcast. I have an issue with CenturyLink. And it’s a big one.

It doesn’t matter what browser or Operating System I use, about every 3 to five websites I browse, I get a ‘cannot connect’ error. I can be using Firefox or Google Chrome, in either windows or Linux, and I’ll have problems. It appears to be a DNS error. Unfortunately, I can’t change the DNS settings on my modem/router. So I’m stuck with the unresponsive boxes of crap that CenturyLink has foisted upon me. And then there are the times the wi-fi goes down completely, and I have to hard reset my modem to get it to work again.

I’ve tried calling CenturyLink support. Let’s see: on hold for an extended period of time. Then I got someone who was more interesting in reading hos script than he was in listening to my problem. He didn’t even speak English, let alone have a fundamental grasp of computers and the internet. But I jumped through the hoops in good faith. All he did was change the channel the wi-fi radio was on. And two days later, I still had the same problem. Back to CenturyLink, and they want to schedule a visit. Problem: they want a 4-hour window. I don’t have a 4 hour window on my day off. I have shit to do (I have a 3-4 hour commute each way to work) on my day off. Waiting around for an incompetent tech for a company more known for fucking up customers is not something I want to do on my day off.

I guess it boils down to CenturyLink wanting to maximize revenue while minimizing actually delivery of services. I’m under contract, and even though I’m not receiving the services I’m paying for, they insist that I continue paying for the non-delivery of internet access.

I wanted to upgrade my phone’s software today. I downloaded it 4 different times. And it was corrupted every time.

Thanks a lot, CenturyLink. You may now resume ignoring your customers.

Once again....

Hello World. I'm underway on Linux again. OpenSuSE 13.1 64-bit. This is the same distro I tried a while back. What happned with that attempt is what usually happens when I try Linux: something goes wrong with the video driver. For some reason whenever I run dual monitors, I have no problems with getting the full 1280x1024 display from both monitors. But whenever I set the system up under Linux, I had some sort of problems. My solution this time was to simply go with just my 27" monitor. And I had my 1920X1080 display right from the get go (even after I installed the Catalyst drivers from AMD/ATI).

I'm still setting up hardware and software, and I'm still finding issues with my set-up, but I think this will be a keeper. But don't despair. I'll still keep windows installed on my system. After all, I still have a MechWarrior 4 and Flight Simulator habit to support...

The first game is in the books

So the Seahawks and the Green Bay Packers went at it tonight. If you may remember a couple of years ago, the Packers paid us a visit, and we won on the infamous 'Fail Mary' at the end of the game.

There was no hail Mary play tonight. Nor the Fail Mary. It was a complete domination. The Seahawks are definitely on the pace to repeat this year. Now if they can only win on the road....

Adventures in getting home

So I got off work late Friday night. I could've caught the very last bus, bit I decided to get a ride. I called a family member, and he said he'd pick me up. I proceeded to the pre-arranged pickup point. And then he called me. His car wouldn't start, but he just needed to charge the battery a few minutes, and then he'd come and get me. So I waited. And waited. And waited. I called him again. Car was still no go. And by now the last bus had left.

Long story short, I had to call a cab. And to get home from work cost me almost $60.00. But I got home. And 1 friend and two coworkers have now told me to call them first. I hope not to call their bluff.

Lesson learned: take the bus if your ride can't start the car.

Just another adventure trying to get home...

On office politics

The game of office politics is a strange game. The only winning move is not to play. Sure, you can get one (or a few, or many) of your enemies fired. But you will eventually fall victim to your own game. This isn't simply a matter of karma. It's a matter of if you play the game, then you're going to get played yourself.

Make peace with your enemies. And if your enemies are your coworkers, then perhaps you should re-think your contribution to the office dynamic.

Play the game, and you'll end up played yourself.

To my former boss (who I actually still work for on occaision).

Ok, so the Raiders won last night. Big deal. It just means their second and third stringers are better than ours. Besides this is pre-season. It doesn't count. When the Seahawks starters take the field, the only place the Raiders are going is down the toilet.

Flush.

ਤੁਹਾਡੇ ਸਾਰੇ ਅਧਾਰ ਸਾਡੇ ਨਾਲ ਸਬੰਧਿਤ ਹਨ.

Another cover that is better than the original…

It is well-known that Shakespeare and opera are done best in Klingon. But did you know that pop songs (especially Sixpence None The Richer) are also even better when perform in Klingon?

I still got the skills…

I just finished rebuilding/reinstalling my system last night. I started this in July. Once upon a time, I would’ve been able to do this start to finish in 2 1/2 days. And that was a dual boot system with WinME and WinXP. Add an extra day, and I could get Linux working on it as well… Now it’s almost 2 months for one OS. Maybe it’s because I can do so much of what used to do online on my phone and my tablet. The only reason why I even run Windows on my tower is because of Flight Simulator. The only drawback is when I rebuild my Windows system is I also have to wipe the Linux side of my tower as well.

So, the next question, is OpenSuSE, Fedora, or Debian?

So They Won Last Night...

They lost to Denver. They won vs. San Diego. And last night, it wasn't a football game. It was a massacre. Somewhere in the third quarter, Mills Lane ran into the field and tried to stop the game. It was that kind of blowout. The Seahawks punter didn't take to the field until well into the second half. Abd the Bears punter fielded more snaps the Jay Culter.

And I missed most of it. I had to open at $dayjob (which means being there at 6, which means up and at 'em @ 1:30 in the morning). Now that usually means that I'd be home in time for the game, but my firmer employer wanted me to come in and cover the shop for a few hours. So I did. Didn't get home till well after 9 last night. and then I had to run errands at my mother's house. But I did get home in time to sit down in front of the 60" and watch the third quarter....

I bought a coffee maker a year ago, and I have set where it is needed the most: in my room. So when I get up, I can hot the button, and have it ready by the time I scrape myself out of bed. But I didn't use it today. 10+ hours of sleep is a passable substitute for caffeine. And you do have to use caffeine responsibly. After all, The Underpants Gnomes have no place in the workplace.....

Birthday misadventures and e-commerce…

My birthday was yesterday. I received lots of well-wishes from my friends on Facebook. But the actual celebration was this past Friday (my brother planned it). My sister gave me a Russell Wilson jersey, and we promptly watched the pre-season game where the Seahawks dismantled the San Diego Chargers. This was a complete surprise, as tradition dictates that my birthday never gets celebrated by my family. And I’m usually happy with it. Normally, I’ll take the day off, and enjoy a quiet day to myself. Actually I should correct myself. The past two birthdays, my brother has made sure that dinner was provided (I’m always happy with pizza or Chinese take-out). My father gave me a Spamazon gift card, which has all been used up. About this time, I had also been making some purchases (I’ve long since figured out that if I really want something, I’m going to get it myself).

Long story short, this is what I got:

With the Spamazon gift card:

• A Samsung BD-F5900 / BD-FM59B 3D Wi-Fi Blu-ray Disc Player. It has Wi-Fi on it, so I can play Netflix on my 60” TV. There was some initial difficulty in setting it up, as it initially thought that it was still in Mexico (I saved a few dollars and got it refurbished). But I got it reset, so I can now use Hulu Plus and Amazon Instant Video. Though I currently don’t subscribe to either (that’s probably going to change, though…)
• 300: Rise of an Empire. I liked the original 300, but I’m not going to pay movie theatre prices.

And I then got some other items on my own:

• It was time I retired both Gateway EV700 monitors that I had been using for the past 14 years. So I got an ASUS VN279Q 27-Inch Screen LCD Monitor. Replacing 2 17” CRT’s with a 27” LCD. I should’ve done it soomer. I really like the HD display. And playing FS is going to be a blast with a 16:9 aspect ratio display. I no longer have to use my tv if I want a widescreen display (which is good, as it only has one hdmi port, and my Blu-Ray player only connect through HDMI)… And with the retirement of the EV700’s, I now am no longer using any component from my original Gateway computer that I got in November 2000.

And I’ve also purchased some DVDs:

• Henry V. I used to have this before. Then I loaned it to a friend, and never saw it again. Shakespeare always makes a good epic. There are times in my life when I could use Derek Jacobi to narrate my life. We could all use a chorus… Though it is ‘out of production’ so I had to get a used copy….
• The Princess Bride. A storybook story with the Dread Pirate Roberts, Princess Buttercup, and Andre the Giant….
• The Austin Powers Trilogy. I liked all three films, and this was chance to own them all.
• The Naked Gun Trilogy. I remember seeing these many years ago. This was Leslie Neilson at his finest. Play LA’s finest…
• Robin Hood: Men In Tights. My. Favorite. Movie. Of. All. Time. And to think I never owned it on DVD. And somehow Mel Brooks’ retelling of the story is so much better than the Kevin Costner treatment. Rabbi Tuckman is better than Friar Tuck.
• Spaceballs. When it comes to Lord Dark Helmet vs. Darth Vader, you have to go with Rick Moranis. And I even got an extra copy for my co-worker, Pizza the Hutt (see Rene, I did mention you…)
• Top Secret. A spoof of both Elvis films and war epics. And it’s funny. Especially that one scene with the cow…
• Monty Python and the Holy Grail. Once again, I used to have this version, but I lent it out, and never saw it again. Now that I have it again, I shall grin, and then feast upon the lambs. And sloths. And carps. And anchovies. And orang-utans. And breakfast cereals. And fruit bats. And large… On second thought, skip a bit, brother.
• Star Trek VI: The Undiscovered Country (Special Collector’s Edition). I have the regular version (along with Star Trek II: The Wrath of Khan). For another birthday a while back, I got the Director’s Cut of that film, and so I’ve always been on the lookout for them.

Some of these items (like the Blu Ray player and the monitor) were purchases that I had been planning for a while. But most of the DVD’s I got on impulse in a moment of weakness.

I’ll try to be stronger. I promise.

Another trip to the doctor

It's been too long since I've last been here. But I really had no choice in the matter. After my last visit, Aetna denied my claim, and I ended up paying over $600 for a diabetic checkup & office visit. Then United Healthcare decided I didn't need to see a doctor (which I previously wrote about). So I went with Group Health. And it took almost 2 months to get that in order. But today, after numerous phone calls,  I got into my doctor's office.

Health care is good. Getting insurance is a nightmare. But, I went for over 10 years a diabetic without insurance, and any insurance is beget than none....

To the backups go the victory. And hopefully the job.

Ok, with less than two minutes to go in the preseason opener, it looks like the Denver Broncos will win over the Seattle Seahawks. Big deal. It's only a preseason game. It doesn't even count. This is mainly to decide who gets a job fit the regular season. Their backups are better than ours tonight.

When it comes to football season, I've always had a preference for the preseason. Because you're watching people fighting for jobs, fighting for your job period is probably a better motivation than fighting fit a trophy and a ring. I could possibly understand the ring part, but it's not even forged by the Elven-Smiths, so it's not even one of the Rings of Power...

Aren't Virtual Machines Fun?

I use VMWare player on my tower. Because I have really important software (ie games. Really old games) that I still occasionally want to use (play). And it won't run on what I currently use. But thanks to the miracle of the virtual machine, I can have a working copy of WinXP and WinME handy to run them. And since I can run my video card though my hdtv, that means I can run Windows ME on a 60 inch monitor.

But don't worry. I promise to only use my powers for good....

Coffee or computer?

Due to the nature of my work schedule, on occasion I have to be up überearly in the morning. And there are times when I'm too tired to even get to the kitchen & the coffee maker located therein. So last year I bought a new coffee maker. And I put it where I needed it the most: in my room. It was originally placed on my TV cabinet, and it shared the same power outlet. When I got my current TV it had to be moved. The only available real estate in my room is on my computer desk, sharing the same outlet as my computer. Ave knowing how much juice each one pulls,  this choice is presented to me: coffee or computer? This morning I actually realized that I was turning my computer off for a cup of coffee. I guess this is why I have my tablet. So I can blog about my decision of coffee over the computer....

Once upon a time, I had sworn off coffee (most likely an over-reaction to an unfortunate indecent at work, when I ended up tossing my morning coffee and the salami sandwich I had the night before) and drink. I'm giving coffee a try again. But I'm still dry....

A hope for peace....

I'd want I'm setting in the media is true, then Israel is holding to its truce in Gaza. Perhaps it may even be possible for both parties to sit down abd settle their differences peacefully. In this conflict there are no winners. When you deliberately target civilians, you lose period. And that's something both parties are not innocent of.....

Violence. Is. Evil. Period.

Hopefully today will be a better day

Ok, a couple of days ago, I got on the wrong bus, abd I was late to work. Today as I boarded the bus,I made sure to ask where the bus was going.

Moral of the story: You only need to get on the wrong bus once. If at all....

What am I getting into?

Since I got my Samsung Galaxy Tab 3 (LTE) on Sunday, my old Samsung Galaxy Tab 2 Wi-Fi has been on the market. Actually I only decided to sell it today. Posted it to my Facebook, and I immediately got two offers (the greatest was 2 dollars, two jalapenos, and a loaf of banana-zuchinni bread from last year. But my sister and I came to a deal. And my old tablet has been sold.

That was pretty simple. What is now complicating things is that I was approached by another friend about buying a laptop. He told me the specs about it, and there was some negotiating. And in the end, I made an offer. Which was accepted. I told him I won’t have the money right away, but if he couldn’t sell it elsewhere, I’d buy it.

But I have to pay off my new TV first….

Another reason to regret recent poor judgement….

So I got my 60 inch TV recently. I then set up the entertainment stand for it. Somewhere along the way, I got an HDMI cable for it. The original idea was to get an HD-DVR cable box for it from Comcast, but those plans have fallen through for now. Tonight I realized that the video card on my tower has an HDMI port on it, and it’s within 8’ of my tv. So I hooked them up, and my tower and my tv can talk to each other.

So I now have a 60 inch monitor. I could get used to this. But I can only watch TV, or use the computer with is. Oh, wait. I have a tv tuner in my tower as well. This is going to get interesting….

Getting the day off to a proper start

Well, what can I say? Right now I'm trying to be in my way to work. But Pierce Transit isn't having anything of it.... Took the route 410 to Puyallup, abd has a half hour layover while waiting to connect to the route 402 to Federal Way. The problem is there are two 402s that stop here. One to Federal Way, one to Graham. Guess who got on the one to Graham.

Long story short, I'm late to work. What a way to start my day....

Yet another decision I'll soon regret...

So I upgraded my tablet yesterday. The Samsung Galaxy Tab 2 7.0 had served faithfully since I got it from Wally World. But I felt it was time to upgrade. And Sprint had a special. A Galaxy Tab 3 with 4g data. For free. With a contract of course...

So of course I bit it and got one. I only have 1gB off data a month for it, but that's more than enough for what I plan to use it for. If I'm going to Netflix on the bus, or stream the game I'll do that on my phone (unlimited data). But for the occasions where I want to blog or Facebook on a bigger screen, this will do fine.

Underneath the hood, my new tablet has a faster processor, twice the space as my old tablet. And of course internet access.

And yes, I've rooted it already....

On recent events of late

Violence is never acceptable. Be it in Ukraine or in Gaza, it only does harm. Killing people in retaliation for killing one or a few persons or to fulfill your hubristic nationalist ego is pointless. Sure you can take down your intended target, but at what cost? What good will it do to your cause to shoot down a civilian airliner with almost 300 people on it, all of whom had nothing to do with your dispute? Why do you feel the need to launch rockets on a daily basis into Israel? Why do you feel obligated to deliberately target a hospital? Why do you have to kill over 600 Palestinians (and in fact, kill more children than your total casualties)? I'm not going to take a side in any of these conflicts. One upon a time, I would've taken up a side, but those times have since past. War is very rarely justified, and I will not be an advocate for violence. War is evil. Violence is evil. If anything, I condemn all the parties. There are ways to get your point across (sanctions, embargoes, etc...). Deliberately targeting civilians is not one of them.

When it comes to Ukraine and Gaza, I’m not going to just single out one side for condemnation. I condemn all sides. If someone kills one of your people, and you retaliate by killing one of theirs, then you’re really no better than them. We’re all grown adults. We can solve our problems without killing each other. To quote Rodney King: “Can’t we all just get along?”

Violence. Is. Evil. Period. Any questions?

A replacement

When I got my HTC One last January, this first accessory that I ordered before it was even delivered was a case. Namely an Otter Box Defender, which was purchased from Worst Buy. It works well. I like the high-impact plastic case, the screen protector *and* the silicone outer skin all serve to keep my $600 phone damage and scratch free. I use the belt clip to keep the phone on my backpack’s should strap (mainly so when I’m playing music through my bluetooth, the signal doesn’t cut out.

It did it’s job well. Though through the months, it started to show its wear, mainly from me trying to take it off and put it back on too much. I started noticing that more than a couple of the latches were broken on it. So long story short, I had to replace it last week. But it’s better to replace a $30 casae than it is to replace a $600 phone. And yes, I did replace it with another Otter Box Defender.

This time, I’m not taking it off…

So I got my TV a week ago…

Well, a little bit more than a week ago. I still need to get the tv stand for it. You may ask, what kind of of TV did I get? I got a Sony WEGA. It is a projection type tv. So, it is a big screen tv, but it is also, well, big. But it is an HDTV, and an improvement over what I had before. Down the road this may prove to be poor judgement on my part. I maybe shouldn’t have done it.

But a deal is a deal. And I agreed to it. I may get buyer’s remorse, but I’ll still live up to my end. It’s all about responsibility….

I’ve possibly used poor judgment of late…

No, I haven’t done anything criminal. Nor anything morally compromising. A couple of weeks ago, I got a text from a friend wanting to sell his TV. It is a 60-inch monster. Went to mutual friend, and after telling him about it, we proceeded to have fun mocking the first firend. And then I thought, that I could use an HD tv. And he’s willing to take payments. So I bought it. I had already aggreed to buy his printer, so this was added to the deal.

About the tv:

• I don’t know much about it other than it’s a Sony 60 inch tv. And it’s coming with a stand. We have a 36 inch set in the living room so I know it’s going to be huge. To that end, I’ve spent most of my day cleaning my room (those of you who truly know me would know that this never happens. Today, I threw out a complete computer desk (which I bought from this same person back when I was working for him), and I threw out another tower (a pII tower that I had tried to turn onto a pIII tower, but I never was able to get working as such. In fact, I never got it work for what I had intended for it)…

And about the printer:

• I got a Lexmark Impact S305. Run of mill multi-function printer. Similar to what I’ve always had (like my Canon MultiPass C755 [rip]and my Canon Pixma MP250). Except for the fact that it’s wireless. Once you’ve set it up on the Wi-Fi, all you need to do is literally plug it in, turn it on & and you can print. Which means I could probably have it out in the other room. But I’ll keep here in my room for now. And I really like the individual ink colors. I hate having to replace the enitre color cartridge just because I ran out of one color…My other printer, the Pixma MP250 still works. But I may retire it to in-the-closet spare status just for lack of space in my room. USB cables can only be so long…

Well, this may down the road prove to be poor judgement on my part. But then again, I was at Wally World pricing 60 inch TV’s and they were all over 4 figures. SO it may be a bargain. We will see. It arrives on Sunday…

Forgiveness is always better than revenge...

My former boss may not like this post, since this is being written about him, but I fell that I have to write this. And there is wisdom to be learned. Like the subject of certain posts of late, who he is & the company in question will remain in pectore, though in due time, you may figure it out (especially if you follow me on Facebook). But for now, I'm not naming names...

After I was fired, my first priority was to put out a resume, apply everywhere I could find & basically find another job. I was still hot under the collar about the way I'd been treated, and I was going for revenge, as documented here. I was out for revenge. Almost at all costs. I avoided his store, and I made sure everybody knew why I left. I was right (after all, I had the documentation & I had prevailed in my unemployment claim. And L&I had sided with me as well). And the final piece in my plan was to simply take his ass to court. And to convince my (now former) co-workers to go in with me (even in small claims court you can get up to $5000 per head, which would've been easy for me, as I have documentation and proof of retaliation). But I couldn't. At first I just decided to walk away from it. I'd found another job, was making better money. I'd received a couple of text messages from my former employers, and I just silently deleted them.

But through the months, I realized that I was getting even more bitter over this. Whenever I saw mutual friends, all I could say was how he was a jerk/thief & that he should be shunned. In the end, I was looking more like a bitter, disgruntled former employee. So, I refriended my former employer on Facebook, and started talking to them again. One of the things I've learned in the movies is that hubris will be one's downfall, and I'm not looking to become another Darth Vader (you know, the whole getting your limbs cut off, and left to burn in lava just isn't my thing)... Eventually, I worked up the courage to go back to the store and talk to him in person. Long story short, that hatchet has been buried, and I'm back to working for him on occasion. I'm not going to cut ties with my current employer (after all, I'm making more money here than I was for him, and he just doesn't the payroll anymore). I may not agree with him, but I don't need to argue the point, nor do I need to prevail with him. I know I'm right, and that's the only person I need to convince.  You don't have to prevail in every argument. A friend is better than an enemy. Forgiveness is better than revenge.

Underway on Linux. Again.

I must be a glutton for punishment. Every once in a while, I'll try to install Linux. Usually what will happen is there will be an epic fail within the first two hours, and I'll end up wiping it completely. A couple of times, I've ended up taking the nuke form orbit approach and wiping my entire tower, and starting over with windows and linux. Sometimes it'll last more than two hours, but I'll end up nuking it because I can't the graphics driver to install. Or the tv tuner... But I always keep getting drawn back, called by the Siren's Song of running my computer and sticking it to The Anti-Christ.

Then again, I think I've stated before here that I want my primary OS on my tower to be Linux-based. Of all the distributions I've tried, I keep coming to OpenSuSE. It supports both KDE and Gnome, and I can get it to play nice with all my hardware. I've dabble in Fedora before, but I couldn't get it to mount my windows drive, so I couldn't really 'move in', and it only supported Gnome (if you're migrating from WIndows, KDE is the way to go).

This time, I've gotten past the all essential graphics driver reinstall stage. Two monitors is really important to me, and what has happened in the past is that I could only get it recognize and drive one monitor, or I'd only be able to have the same display on both monitors. Not good. The next things I have to do are install the printer drivers (a little tricky since I'm running the 64-bit, and the only drivers I could find are 32-bit, but I can brute-force it), and the TV tuner (not that big of a deal right now).

So, Hello World. I'm under way on Linux. Again...

So, United Health Care doesn't want me to see a doctor. Period.

With the passage of Obamacare, I lost my company provided health insurance. Not that I grieve for it. The one claim I filed for a routine diabetic checkup was denied due to a pre-existing condition, and I ended up paying over $400.00 out of pocket for a 15 minute office visit (GFY Aetna). So, I filled out my online application, and I qualified for the state's basic health plan (aka Apple Care),  in this case provided by United Health Care. I assigned a doctor (who was not the previous doctor I'd been seeing). They call themselves managed care. It should be more correctly called micro-managed care. I looked on their website and saw that my previous doctor was on the network,  but the website wouldn't completely load so I couldn't do anything about it. I asked online how to switch providers, and I was ignored. They just sent me a new ID card with the sand provider. I tried calling them, but all I got a as a voice recognition program that couldn't understand what I was saying (kind of like a menu where they deliberately how the choices).

Fast forward to a couple of weeks ago,  when I updated my income (getting more hours at work), and I'm no longer eligible for United Health Care. I'm still covered by it till the end of the month,  and i was finally able to switch to my old provider. So i call and set up an appointment with him. The next day, I get a call from the doctors office saying that I'm not listed in the system, and that I'd be paying for this out of my own pocket. I don't have over $400.00 so I canceled the appointment. After calling United Health Care, I was told that the changes won't take place until I receive my new ID card, which probably won't conveniently arrive until after I'm off of United Health Care.

I'm a type I diabetic. And United Health Care doesn't want me to see a doctor.

So, it is Mother's Day today....

So today is the day to celebrate motherhood. Whatever issues you may have with your parents, at least take the time to acknowledge her existence and the gave that she bore you for nine or so months, then endured the Hell you gave her for 18-21 years... I say my mom's yesterday, I'll probably be over there again tonight. Abd tomorrow we're going to get together at my sister's for the actual mother's day celebration.

I did do something today as well,  and I would encourage you to do it s well. I went through all my facebook contacts,  abd left a Mother's day wish on the walls of all my Facebook friends whom I know to be mothers. And it just about killed my phone's battery...

To the unknown person…

This is primarily addressed to a certain person. Saturday, I got a phone call form my mother that somebody called her and asked for me. It was replied that I don’t live there (which is true). I called the number on the caller ID, and it was a Magic Jack user with a Kent, WA telephone number. To satisfy my curiosity, I called it & I’ve never had an answer.

So, if you’re that person and you want to get a hold of me. I can tell that you have Magic Jack, which probably means that you have email. So why don’t you drop me a line at roger.a.bryant@gmail.com.

(I’ve no problem with publishing this email address on the internet). It was my reply to address when I was on usenet, and I’ve heared that Gmail has some very robust spam filtering onboard.

May the Fourth Be With You

So, it is apparently some sort of Star Wars day today. I suppose you could reach out to that Special Inept Imperial Officer and Force-Choke him (though I'm also partial to the Force - Bitchslap)....

May the Fourth be with you. Although having said that, LucasArts is jumping the shark in completely disregarding all the canon that built up all the years and in the video games. Episode 7 without Kyle Katarn? They might as well make Cousin Oliver and Ted McGinley Jedi Knights... 

Time for a breakthru

Hasn’t everyone felt like this before? Like you just wanted to make that connection to somebody.

Even if you haven’t, it’s still a good excuse for a Queen video. Although I’ve never had to have a reason to justify enjoying Queen…

So, what has happened this week?

Where do I start? Let’s just pick something and go with it:

• I’ve been looking at CenturyLink lately. Too many time ‘page cannot be displayed’ errors with Comcast. And I have serious issues with the proposed merger with Time/Warner. Less Competition = Higher Prices for less service. There is a story here in and of itself. When I put my current address in to CenturyLlink, I was told that I could get 3 mb speed. But I put the address that the apartment used to have, it came back with 40 meg speed (even faster than the cable). After talking with the local retail store manager, I decided to take a chance. And I’m now enjoying a speed that’s at least twice as fast as I was getting before. Hey Comcast, guess who’s dropping your not-so-high speed internet come Monday?
• If you use Mozilla Thunderbird, and have a hotmail address, hotmail now supports IMAP. Which is good, as when I check my mail on my phone/tablet, and I read a message, it will be marked as read on my computer as well. And CenturyLink has IMAP on their email (though it is not officially supported).
• For some reason, the live chat link on the Adobe Customer Care website is listed in the MVPS.org HOSTS file. I suspect it is there for a reason. They are definitely a special kind of stupid…
• I just had to retire my Saitek Cyborg 3D USB. For the past couple of years, one of the buttons hasn’t worked, but I held on to it because I’m left-handed, and this is one of the few joysticks that can be set up for left-handed use. It’s being replaced by a Thustmaster – T – 16000M (that’s what they called it) that I got from Worst Buy. It’s a little bit on the expensive side, but I got it because it has a hat switch, and most importantly, it can be configured for left-handed use…

Technorati Tags: The Moron-Bots at Adobe,Worst Buy,MVPS.org,Thunderbird,Comcrap,CenturyLink

On dealing with rabbits….

Some of us may have an issue with a certain rabbit tomorrow. May I remind that this type of rabbit is best dealt with using Sacred Relics:

Just because I need a laugh.

After I laid my cards on the table last week, I think I just need a good laugh. Nothing like Tom and Jerry for that:

This is actually one of my favorites. I’ve always want the ability to hock one so powerfully as to be able to shatter a vase from across the room….

An email was sent tonight.

And my cards are now on the table. Let the consequences come what may…

Opening night

And the Seattle Mariners won 10-3. For the past 8 seasons, they have won the opening night. And then they’ve choked it during the season. Seriously, they need to change there names to the Seattle Inept Imperial Officers. I almost want to say that they’re the laughing stock of The New World Order (Mind-Control Division). But then again they did have a winning pre-season.

I should also point out, that while the Mariners historically suck, they still put more points on the board in tonight’s game than Peyton Manning did during the Super Bowl. Now that’s gotta hurt…

It’s here

And I’m talking about the spaghetti harvest:

And yes, spaghetti does really grow on trees…

So, what all happened last week….

Last Monday was St. Patrick’s day. In Ireland, it is more of a religious holiday. In fact, up until 1970, all the pubs were closed on St. Patrick’s Day, and you went to church that day. It’s only in America that it’s celebrated with Green (actually St. Patrick’s color is blue), and excessive beer (which is ironic as St. Patrick’s Day is being celebrated during Lent this year, if you’re Catholic…). I’m not Catholic, nor  am I Irish. So I didn’t wear green, and I didn’t drink at all. I think it should be mentioned here that I no longer drink (alcohol is really pointless).

I’m watching Cosmos with Neil DeGrasse Tyson. He’s still no Carl Sagan, but he’s still making science interesting. The fact that he almost has a pornstache doesn’t hurt either… Carl Sagan introduced me to Johannes Kepler. Tyson has introduced me to Edmund Halley…

I renewed my phone contract a couple of months ago (I’ve already blogged about my new phone). And this week, my brother wanted to upgrade, too. So, he got his latest iPhone this week. And I had to be there, since it’s my account, and Sprint is rather strict about account holders…

And if you’re play Flight Simulator X, give yourself at least 15,000 feet before you barrel roll a jetliner. And while you’re at it, don’t hell dive the final appraoch…

Reconciling with pluto…

A few years back, I wrote about Pluto gaining midget status… Last week on Late Night with Seth Meyers, Neil deGrasse Tyson was on. Neil was part of the committee that relegated Pluto to midget status. Well, they finally buried the hatchet:

This may be just a late-night sketch, but there is a moral here. Always make peace with those around you. You don’t always have to agree with them 100 percent, but just get along. You can have a different opinion than your fellow man, and not have to come to blows….

Technorati Tags: Neil DeGrasse Tyson,Pluto

Finally, something good from the FOX Networks…

I remember growing up in a military family. While we were stationed in Germany in the early ‘80s, the only English speaking TV station was run by the US Army. Basically imagine getting NBC, ABC, CBS, and PBS all rolled up into one channel. What it meant to me basically was really kick-ass anime after school and Saturday mornings (I personally salute the head of programming just for that).

I remember this book called Cosmos on the living room coffee table, and I remember every Sunday morning, sneaking into my parents’ and playing the Atari 2600 (with their permission, of course), and then seeing this show featuring the planets Jupiter and Saturn and Stars and such. That was my first encounter with Carl Sagan. So every Sunday morning, I just had to see this show. I was hooked and I was only in the 4th grade.

My father’s military career progress, and we were eventually sent stateside, and on occasion every summer, KCTS would rerun Cosmos. And I would watch it religously. The time came for me to move out on my own, and I saw to it that that copy of Cosmos came with me. I even got a copy of Pale Blue Dot, Carl Sagan’s follow-up to Cosmos. When Carl Sagan died in 1996, I mourned.

Fast forward to yesterday. There’s a new version of (more of a sequel) Cosmos, host by Neil DeGrasse Tyson. I liked what I saw in that first episode, but Tyson has some shoes to fill. It is produced by Seth MacFarlene, so there’s hope of hearing Roger the Alien or Stewie Griffith describe the stars….

And yes, I only used Wikipedia links in this post. Sorry, I’m just lazy tonight…

Technorati Tags: Space,Cosmos,Carl Sagan,Neil DeGrasse Tyson,Roger the Alien

Almost Underway

The Seattle Sounders FC’s 40th season is almost about to get underway. I guess I know what I’m going to be doing for the next 90 minutes or so….

Yes, I know that they’ve only been in MLS for 5 years, but there was also this whole North American Soccer League….

Edit: as per the Standard Operating Procedures when facing Sporting KC, it went into the 4th minute of stoppage time before the game was decided. This why we dint give up, people....

I needed a candy bar today

Or a peice of Key Lime Pie. I was rather disappointed that Google decided to name the current version of Android Kit Kat rather than Key Lime Pie. I’m saying this because the Android upgrade for the Sprint HTC One has be released. And I decided to bite tonight, I was running the 420 Jelly Bean ROM singe I got my phone, and I was pretty happy with it. Enough that I stayed with Jelly Bean for a couple of weeks even when there were new ROMs coming out (applying a lesson learned not to leap straight into upgrades, especially when what I have already works). Then the 420 Kit Kat ROM came out, and I decided to try it out today. 8 hours later, I’ve given up on it, but I found a new rom: ViperOne. So far, I’m happy with it. There are a lot of tweaks (kinda like the LeeDroid tweaks in Gingerbread and Ice Cream Sandwich I had when I was running my EVO 3D). Also a plus is it’s easier to manage blinkfeed (I went with 420 because it was a Sense 5.0 Jelly Bean ROM that had blink feed disabled by default).

Kit Kat is good. Although I should add that I’ve said that about Jelly Bean, Ice Cream Sandwich, Gingerbread and Froyo…

The perfect storm....

By At work, there is a policy with regards to cell phones. Namely, don't use them. So I keep mine tuned off and in my locker. Abd so it was last night. I got off work abd I turned my phone back on. Abd it just kept boot-looping ad naseum. Normally this would be cause for concern, but I figured it was an issue the kernel I flashed, and I would just reflash the ROM as soon as I got home. I get home, turn the computer on,  and guess what. No boot. It did turn on, abd wishes loaded. It just wouldn't load the desktop. So i ended up having to wipe the tower, reinstall Windows just so I can flash the ROM on my phone (owing to space constraints, I haven't been keeping a copy of my ROM on my phone. I may visit that policy soon...)

But so far,  everything appears back to normal. I got all the settings restored back to my phone. Now I just have to reinstall everything back on my tower. Again. Thank the Flying Spaghetti Monster for my 1 tB usb back up drive...

Edit: I hope I've nailed the problem with the tower not wanting to load. It appears to have been an issue with my Bluetooth adapter. After installing the software/driver for it & pairing my devices with my tower, my wireless keyboard stopped working. Upon rebooting, again the desktop didn't load. Until I pulled the Bluetooth adapter out...

Offense vs Defense....

Ok, the Denver Broncos brought the #1 offense in the NFL to the Super Bowl. And the Seahawks brought the #1 defense in the league to the game. Abd there is a reason why defense is what wins games. From the opening play safety too the interception taken to the house, Peyton Manning got his head handed to him on a silver platter. But enough about the Seahawks trouncing the Denver Broncos...

I had to work today. I thought about calling out (unlike previous employers, this one offers paid vacation and sick leave, abd I had accumulated enough of both that I could've called out. But I have these damn ethics, and so I showed up for work. Fortunately, my assigned post was near the tv, so I was able to catch most of the game...

One ring to rule them all, abd the Seahawks have it. For once, Seattle has a professional sports franchise that can not only make it the post season, but they can also not completely choke it...

So there's this little football game going on today....

So if you haven't heard, there's this little football game going on today. The Seattle Seahawks are paying the Denver Broncos. Hopefully this years' Super Bowl week go better than the last time they made it.

The two states with legalized pot are playing in the Super Bowl. No wonder it is so foggy today.

Go Hawks.

Render unto Caesar, 2013 edition

I just filed my taxes. Like I've always done. With my previous employer, my withholding was screwed up so I didn't get enough withheld. And I ended up paying for it every spring. But this year, I had stated a new job, and I had the withholding correctly set up. I'm getting a refund. Or if not a refund, then I expect the slate between me and the IRS to be wiped clean. You won't get into as much trouble if you file and don't pay (that's just being late) than if you don't file at all (that's tax evasion,  a crime. A serious one. As in that's what got Al Capone put away). Though I strongly encourage you to pay, or to set up an installment plan...

Edit: the IRS accepted my tax return that same day, and I just checked, and my refund has been approved. Albeit reduced as to a past due tax obligation. Which is fine with me. I'll admit that owed them money. But the slate is now wiped clean, and I have money coming back still. I'm a happy camper...

The end is near for Windows XP...

Truth in advertising: I'm writing this post about mainly my computer, but I'm writing it from my tablet....

In less than three months, The Anti-Christ will discontinue support for Windows XP. Which means if you're using xp, upgrade now. What Microsoft wants you to do is go out and buy a new computer and/or a new version of the latest incarnation of Windows. But the problem is that when it comes quality, Windows trends to skip generations. Windows 98 was good. Windows ME was Crap (that's probably why I became so computer literate. My very first computer had ME on it). XP was good. Really good (I upgraded as soon as it came out). Windows Vista was called Windows ME, Service Pack 1. Windows 7 was really good (came with my laptops). And Windows 8 is essentially Windows ME, Service Pack 2. Basically they tried to put the touchscreen experience on equipment that doesn't have touchscreens. Abd I'm not to thrilled with the ui experience. If you're absolutely forced to upgrade, look for Windows 7.

As for me, tonight, I'm doing one last system wipe. I'm sticking with XP to the bitter end. I think my next Windows upgrade is going to be when I buy my next computer. But I have my reasons for sticking with XP. All of my hardware is compatible with it abd I have drivers. But the real reason are my games. Some of them are really old, and XP is the most advanced os they'll run under. I don't think security will be an issue, as my Tower sits behind a NAT firewall, and Google Chrome will still support XP for while. Besides with two 1 tB hard drives, there's plenty of space for my new primary os: Linux. It's free, and unlike Windows 8, kde stills has the start menu...

Stuff you don't wanthappening to you while taking a pee, or my adventure with maintenance...

So a chronic problem I've had living in my apartment has been the bathroom fan. Specifically it has worked more often than it worked. It worked fine when I moved in, but then it died. Went to the office, told about it, and the maintenance guy came in and replaced it. Couple of months later, abd it dies again. This time, I went to the office and nothing happened.  It took a couple of times, but then somebody finally came out. Two weeks later, it dies again. Maintenance guy was out troubleshooting another issue, abd I told him about it. Abd I was told that he needed a work order from the office. So I went to the office again right away. And it was ignored. A few weeks later, there was another issue abd this time I ended up on the phone with the home office of the real estate company who owns the building, and I made a passing comment about the fan always going out. Very soon after that the fan was replaced (this time, I was told that it had to be special ordered). Soon after that, the fan started rumbling (but it still worked), and it came loose in its mounting (like it was going to fall). And I now noticed The Drip. Want much, just a nuisance. But it was still a leak. Fast forward to Tuesday night when I went to take a leak, and I was hit with a bigger steam than what I was releasing. Finally I sent an email to the apartment office again, abd this time he was there early in the morning. He told us the leak is a roofing issue, and it'll be a week to fix it. Again the bathroom fan is on special order. This morning, I heard some very loud stomping on the roof, abd I hope it was the roofer. I've seen a little bit of a drip, but nothing like before. Now I just hope we get our fan back. I think I'll get it fixed. I did tell my apartment manner that I'm ok going without one, but she'll be the one dealing with the mold when I move out....

Ok, I should probably be going to bed, but

I should be going to bed right now. But I can’t. I’m too wired & and watching the Grammys. Here’s the best new artist:

Historically, the best new artist grammy can be considered the kiss of death for a musician’s career (remember Men at Work, anyone?). I hope this doesn’t follow the trent. I actually like Macklemore…

Here we go again

The Seahawks are back in the Super Bowl. Eight years ago, when I started this blog, they were on their way to the Festivus Maximus as well. This year, I think they've better chances than when went up against the Steelers. I'll be rooting for them, even if I can't catch the game....

We're going up against Denver, in New York. Two west coast teams playing on the east coast, about as close to neutral territory that I can see.  It could be worse. We could've been facing Indianapolis (who defeated us at Indianapolis) or Cincinnati. Or God forbid, the Patriots. Then again that would've been a chance to give Tom Brady a very much well deserved beating. Though a Manning took care of that for us. Now we just have to take care of a Manning....

It's basically going to be the best offense verses the best defense. Offense sells tickets, bit defense wins games (like the last play interception last night).

Go Hawks.

So I got it...

So I got my phone a couple of days ago. Rooting it initially wasn't that hard. I just simply went to the HTC dev website and followed the instructions to unlock my boot loader, abd then flashed su and a recovery. I then flashed a couple of ROMs and found one that I liked. The ed a problem last night with it, though. My boy lost relocked itself, So I had to go through the whole process of relocking & unlocking again. This time I ran the rumrunner tool & abd got S-off so my phone will stay unlocked.

As for the ROM that I'm running, it's a slightly modified version of the Team 420 ROM that posted to xda. It's still a work in progress (I'll need to make a couple of more modifications to it, but I think I've found my daily driver).

What I like about my phone (for those of you who don't know, it's the Sprint HTC One):

The LTE. My previous phone had wimax, which was a separate radio. And I had issues with battery life with it. With LTE, I dint see as much battery usage, abd coverage is only going to get better I hope.

The partitioning. I can't put an an external memory card in it, but because the /data partition expands dynamically, I also don't need a third party app (like link2sd or a2sd) to link everything to a hidden partition on my sd card. Managing space may become an issue down the road, but I'll cross that bridge when I get to it.

The power. 2gB's of ram, and a quad core processor. Yeah, she's fast enough for you. And since I've finally got it rooted and unlocked, I can probably over-clock it if I wanted, to.

And there's also the Beats audio, the aluminium, unibody construction, the 4.7 inch display, the camera...

I think I'm going to regret this...

So I was at Spamazon this afternoon and noticed I could get an HTC One for only a penny if I renew my contact. I figured why not? I had been upgrade eligible since October, and while my EVO 3D had served faithfully, I'm now only getting two hours' worth of charge before I had to recharge it (I had to get av external battery for it). So long story short I'm committed to Sprint for another two years...

Happy New Year

2013 is about to leave, and 2014 is about to begin. My resolutions this year:

• Get out of debt. When I apply for credit cards, if I have the option, I always ask for a low limit, so I can’t get into trouble, but still the balances just don’t go down…
• Bring down my blood sugar numbers. I constantly get yelled at when I go to my doctor. With Obamacare, I now (I hope) will be able to get something done.
• Write more in this blog. I use Twitter and Facebook a lot, but this was my original soap box on the internet…

Happy New Year to you. If you’re drinking, then please don’t drive. A DUI is a lot more expensive than a cab…

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