New TV arrived today…

So my replacement TV arrived today. It’s not a 55 inch set, and I have to keep repeating to myself that I don’t really need 55 inches. My 55 inch set is out of the apartment. By previous agreement with my apartment manager, it is by the side of my apartment building until the recyler can pick it up (I’m not throwing it out in the dumpster).

While I’m getting rid of the TV, I’m keeping the TV stand, though I have to improvise to account for the size difference. To boost the TV up to the right height, I had to set the TV on an old printer (third bullet point down). Eventually, I’ll get a proper TV stand for it, but that is down the road. Since the new TV has more than one HDMI port, I can now watch my cable programming in 1080p (since I had to use the component cable on myh Sony, I only got 720p). And since the TV is smaller, I can move my coffee maker over there as well (it’s a cup-at-a-time maker, but space on my desk is at a premium,,,

So there’s this baseball game on tonight…

And through a function/contest at work, I won a ticket to the Mariners game tonight at the Safe. Manager gave me my ticket, and I put it in my locker. Thinking I would actually want to go to the game, I put in for the next day off, which was granted. A couple of weeks later, I was looking in my locjker, and no ticket. Oh well, I thought. I still have the next day off, and I have a 55 inch HDTV that I can watch it on. Saturday, I get home, and I turn the tv on, and no image. The red lamp indicator wasn’t lit (and I checked the lamp, which was intact), so I figured it was gone. It was over about ten years old, and it was about time to replace it. So off to Wally World, where I found another TV set. It’s not a smart tv (if you remember, I got a smart Blu-Ray player a couple of years ago, so I don’t need one). It’s also smaller. I’m going from a 55 inch to a 32 inch. I don’t need a 55 inch, when it’s just in my room.

The recycler will be by on June 6 to pick it up, along with other 2 HDTVs that my brother got since we’ve moved in that have given up the ghost. And my two Gateway EV700 monitors, while they still work, will be recycled.

So I ordered the new TV from Wally World. And I noticed with expedited shipping, it’ll come on my requested day off. Sometimes things work out. Just not in the way that you planned it. BTW, I’m still watching the game. Since April of 2001, every computer I’ve had has had a TV tuner. And since I still have Xfinity X1, I can stream it on my phone or tablet…

So I’m binge-watching….

I have Hulu Plus, commercial free. South Park is on Hulu. So I’m watching South Park, starting form season one. Just finished with Damien, and now on to Tom’s Rhinoplasty.

I don’t normally binge-watch. But when I do, it’s on my 55-inch set, my tablet, and on my phone. While commercial-free…

Last night’s misadventures on the internet….

Not really on the internet, but on my computer nonetheless. Every once in a while, I’ll do a back-up of my key files on to my usb hard drive. And last night was back-up day. It took me over 12 hours. Though, to be honest, most of it was the Steam program compressing all my downloaded games. I’ve been on Steam for 4 months, and I apparently already have over 350 gB worth of stuff. Then there was the 216 gB Windows XP virtual machine. And then I backed up my document, downloads, and the like. My backup drive has a 2 tB capacity, and while I’m not filling it up completely yet, I can use plenty of it quite easily.

I also have a second back-up. My windows installers are on usb flash drives, and there’s enough room on them that I can also store current copies of essential utilities and device drivers. Those were updated as well.

Only problem with doing this is that I’m too tempted to wipe my computer and ‘experiment’. Then again, I’m going to be hating it if I have a hardware failure, and I don’t have a recent back-up (like my most recent one). But I figure, if I’m going to ‘experiment’ then it’s going to happen. That’s how I became so good at computers. Just keep trying. And back everything up.

One other thing with my backup drive: Unless I’m backing up stuff, or restoring stuff, it stays off. Suppose I get a virus, and I lose the entire contents of my internal hard drive. I can still wipe it and start over, but if you have a corrupted archive, you’re going to be back to square one. A hard drive that is not on at all can’t be infected…

All good things must come to an end

Today is the last day of my vacation. Tomorrow I go to work. So, I should’ve spent most of my day today tied up in getting ready to for work (like my usual Mondays are). But I already did my laundry on Monday this week (in preparation for my little adventure Tuesday). So, all I have to do is set the alarms on my phone (which I did as soon as it booted up after I flashed the new ROM Saturday night). But still, I’m going to work Tomorrow. And Saturday. And because Sunday is Mother’s Day, I’m coming in to my other job. But it’s back to the routine otherwise.

Like all jobs, my current does have it’s issues. But that’s what happens when you have any organization of 2 or more people. Not everyone is going to have the exact same opinion. But the pluses still outweigh the negatives, and I’m looking forward to returning to it tomorrow. Sometimes we all just need to step away from it for awhile…

Cinco de Mayo….

According to my mother I’m 1/16th Mexican. That’s enough to say that I’m Mexican/Hispanic on government documents, census forms, and the like. But I don’t. I don’t speak Spanish, and I don’t look like I’m Hispanic (yes, I know it’s playin to stereotypes). But I digress. For all intents and purposes, I’m not really Mexican. And I quit drinking in 2013.

So far all of you celebrating today, happy Cinco de Mayo. please drink responsibly, if you’re going to drink. But for me, Happy Thursday. And actually, if you’re in Mexico right now, Happy Thursday as well….

btw: If you’re in the French Foreign Legion, this time of year means something significantly different…

Get out your brooms!

The Mariners swept the A’s today. As you can tell, I’ve been watching a lot of The New World Order (Mind-Control Division), as well as the Stanley Cup playoffs, on my vacation.

Currently, the Mariners are on top of the AL West standings. And they’ve won every series since going 1-5 in their first homestand. Let’s hope that they can keep it up. The Seahawks  and the Sounders FC routinely make it to the post-season. In fact, the Seahawks won it all in 2014, and the Sounders FC have made it to the playoffs every year that they’ve been in MLS.

Drugs are good…

Not all drugs are good. Being a type I diabetic, I depend on insulin. Multiple times per day. Usually two different types. When I last went to the doctor, my prescriptions were adjusted (mainly changing my insulins to ones that my drug coverage gave me a better price on). But therein lies the adventure. Rather than having him fax the prescription to the local pharmacy, I had him give me a paper prescription. I then went to my prescription insurer (with my employer provided coverage, health care and prescription coverage are provided through two different providers), and I ordered my medication for mail order. Previous research into costs showed me that mail-order would be the lowest cost. And they immediately contacted my doctor for a prescription. Which was summarily rejected because I had already received a paper copy. So, my next step was to submit my paper prescription, which I did through my provider’s Android app (using my phone’s camera). And the image was too blurry. So, I had to mail it in. This time, I was going to make sure that they got it. So I paid $6.45 and had it sent Priority Mail. Mainly so I could have a tracking number, as this was the only proof that I had a prescription. But they finally got it, and after consulting with my doctor again, they filled it. Though they took 5 days to do it. And then they shipped it out. Since it was rather important for me to have my insulin, I paid the $23+ extra to have it overnighted.

And guess what arrived today? Drugs are good. Not all drugs though… Some should be avoided, as having a criminal record for them can be rather annoying….

May the Fourth Be With You...

Today is that special day. Where you reach out to that Inept Imperial Officer in your life. And Force-Choke him.

And btw, all the Star Wars games are on sale at Steam. Even Rogue Squadron (which by the way all the old cheat codes still work...).

The Schwartz awakens….

So, it’s late at night, and I’ve got tomorrow off, due to my oft-aforementioned vacation. So what am I to do? I know. Fire up the Blu-Ray and watch Spaceballs, of course.

Ludicrous Speed Go!

One of the best lessons learned

Never mind this. This is once again the droning of an introvert with a blog….

Your ego will be your downfall. Lose it. Lose it like it was yesterday. Especially on social media. So what if somebody posts something that you don’t like. Twitter has a filter setting as well. Facebook has a ‘unfollow’ setting. You can still be friends, but their posts won’t be in your feed. You can also unfriend and move on. Or you can just let it go. Agree to disagree.Yes, I’ve been unfriended and blocked before. So what. Let go of you ego, and your online problems will go, too. Because 9 times out of 10, you can find the cause of your problems in the mirror.

Took a trip up north

To tell the truth, I had been planning this for the past three months. This was why I took vacation time this week (as well as needing to de-stress from work). I took a trip up north today.
Last January, I was awarded a watch at work, and it was too big. I was told that I could take it to any jewelry store and have it resized. I have a problem with mall jewelry stores. As soon as you walk in, your beset with a high-pressure sales pitch to open up one of their credit cards (which I don’t need as I’m in enough debt), or they’ll lose/mangle/destroy your merchandise (like what they say Kay Jewelers has done in recent media reports). But I remember that I have friends who run a jewelry store north of here. And so I was able to get my watch resized without a high-pressure sales pitch. And my merchandise wasn’t mangled/destroyed/lost.
Yes, I knew them before, so I’m not posting this to yelp or the BBB, and I hesitate to even mention names. But still, props to Rialto….

Some wisdom once again learned…

Never underestimate friendship, or the power of hello. Even if you don’t get what you want, if you still have a friend, then you have a lot. Sugar-free rockstar is not good at curing headaches. Insulin is good. Sometimes you have to be grateful for what you have, and not seek that next thing. Office politics is a game that you really don’t want to play. There are times when you shouldn’t seek to fulfill your desires, but you should seek to end the desires themselves. Wisdom is knowing the difference between the two.

Just some dronings of another introvert with a blog….

Broke. Again.

Paid my bills Saturday. All of them. And now I’m broke.  Payday was Friday. I now have to wait until the Friday after next. But all my bills are paid.

Day 1 (or Day 2) report….

Depending on who you ask, this is the second day of my vacation. Officially, it’s the first day (yesterday was a sick day). Anyway, I succeeded in my primary goal today: Doing absolutely nothing. Last year, I took a week off in the summer, but I spent each day of the entire week working at my second job (I actually planned the vacation around my second boss’s trip to Disneyland). But as much as I like Mrs. Fields, and I enjoy working there, I don’t want to take a vacation to work there.

And yes, I am now admitting the name of my primary employer from 1995-2012: Mrs. Fields. It wasn’t just at Mrs. Fields Cookies (remember that they also own several other brands). Once in a while, I’ll still work there, but it’s no longer my primary employer (no, I’m not disclosing where I’m working at now).

I think tomorrow I’ll go visit a friend for lunch. Then laundry (that’s a standard Monday off task). And yes, I’ll do the all-important ass-sitting as well…