So, Christmas was a week ago…

So, Christmas was a week ago. Christmas Eve was the Big Bryant Family Reunion. Much food was consumed. I had eaten Mickey Dee’s earlier in the day, and that afternoon it had come back up to haunt me, so only had one plate (which I kept down, btw). Then there was the gift exchange. As usual, it was white elephant style, dispersed by drawing. I’ve found a new tradition. I’m now wrapping my present just by putting it in my most recent McDonald’s bag. Worked last year, and it worked this year. All it means to the recipient is that there will be a good chance that there will be a packet of salsa in there as well. Fun was had by all, and I made it a point to give an extra Target gift card to one of my cousins (said cousin has been known to make a bee-line straight for my gift if it is known that brought a Target card, and I just wanted to do something special especially for this cousin). Because of my day/night schedule at work, by the time I got home, I had been up for close to 24 hours, and I went straight to bed (normally I watch Midnight Mass from St. James Cathedral on TV).

So I slept in on Christmas Day as late as I could, and then we went to my younger brothers for Christmas. We had a Taco Bar. Everything is even better with a Taco Bar. I brought a 2 liter of strawberry soda as a tribute to mother. Then gifts were exchanged. Nieces and nephews got their gift cards to Target (yes, that’s where I did most of my Christmas shopping this year), and siblings got their coffee. And I even got something for my nephew’s girlfriend (another one of my traditions is the Spare Present).

This year, I did 9/10’s of my shopping at Target. I ordered most of my shopping online from my phone on my way to Mrs Fields one day. From the items I received, the one that stands out the most was the three cans of SPAM my father gave me. I was to receive them last year, but for some reason they were forgotten. I quick check of the useby dates, and they’re still good. I also got a flashlight/worklight, some shoe gel inserts, and an Atari Flashback 8 Gold. And I’m just as thankful for the 3 cans of year old SPAM that I am for the video game console.

RIP Buzzard Face

One of the memories of my childhood was my mother’s uncle, Earl Abney. I remember being at his house, playing pool. Then as I hit my teenage years, the teasing began. And the jokes. There was the name calling. He called me Chicken Lips. And I called him Buzzard Face. Whenever he visited, or we visited him, there was going to be a laugh….

It has been almost 30 years since I last saw him. Life happened and we grew apart. But I had the memories. Last week, his battle with Alzheimer's finally ended.

Rest in peace, Buzzard Face. You will be missed, but your suffering has ended.

Ho, Ho, Ho

Just boarded the bus to go to Grandma's house for the Big Bryant Family Reunion. Happy Christmas to you and yours.

Yes, I'm saying Happy Christmas this year. I just like the sound of it better than Merry Christmas...

Finally!

Ok, so Monday night, I wiped my laptop with the system restore feature of my laptop. Which put it back to Windows 10 Home 1511. It took a day and a half to get it to Windows 10 Home 1909. And I just now got it to Windows 10 Pro 1909. It took a running of sfc /scannow get from home to pro. And way too much time on Windows Update to get to 1909.

But I’m there. Finally.

Holiday decorating is done...

I'm ready for the holiday. Come for the Airing Of Grievances, stay for the Feat Of Strength... 

So I wiped my laptop last night….

Well, I started it. Using the system restore set, because of drivers. Unfortunately, it leaves me with Windows 10 1511, and for some reason I can’t just throw the 1909 install flash drive in it (like my Tower’s last rebuild). So it’s off to Windows Update for 3 hours, and I got it to 1809. Maybe tonight, I’ll get it to Windows 10 Pro 1909 (like my tower). And yes, I have paid for the upgrade from Home to Pro…

But on the bright side, I have also backed up my documents onto my external drive, which I haven’t done since June (I have two hard drives in my tower, and one drive is my storage drive – it is never formatted. The ‘C’ drive which is my installation drive is).

But while my laptop updates itself I think it’s time for my now-weekly Target run. Probably the last of my Christmas shopping, which is easier to budget for since I paid all my bills last night.

So like I said in the last post…

I said in my last post that I was going to watch the Big Bash League - in a nutshell Australian Cricket’s equivalent of The New World Order (Mind-Control Division). Tonight’s match was the Brisbane Heat vs the Sydney Thunder. An entertaining match, though my preference is more towards the Royal Challengers Bangalore (in the Indian Premier League). Or if it’s International Cricket, I’ll root for West Indies. Mainly because my boss at Mrs. Fields is from India and saying Hooray West Indies is lot safer than saying that Virat Kohli is really Captain Underpants….

Another Weekend...

I was supposed to work last (Sunday) night. But I was feeling a bit under the weather, and I had enough sick time accrued to cover my shift. So I called out...

So my weekend actually starts tonight. And I paid my bills. And I still have enough left over top live off of, and finish my Christmas shopping...

Tonight's agenda: wipe the laptop, and watch the Big Bash League (yes, I'm now a Cricket fan).

What is wrong with us?

I've seen screw ups and frothing from one side to another. I think Cheetos-Face does deserve to be lawfully removed from office. But will it happen? Probably not. The impeachment trial will be a partisan farce.

So my hope will be in 2020. Cheetos-Face will most likely be running, but openly glorifying sexual assault is an automatic disqualifier (remember the Access Hollywood tape)? Not to mention the raging narcacissm, and the racism. And then there's the intentionally separating families and caging children. These are people, not animals. We're Americans. We're supposed to be better than this. 

My weekend is underway

Home from work. Computer is fired up. 

And as you can see, I'm busy doing the most important weekend task: Flight Simulator X. I hear there is a new version in development though. But this version is sufficient for now... 

I know it’s a little early, but….

Happy stuff bread up a turkey’s ass day (also known as Thanksgiving). Since My work week starts tonight, and goes all the way through to next Monday morning, for me Thanks giving will be just Thursday. But I did celebrate it last night. Didn’t do turkey this year. Last year I did it with Red Robin takeout. This year, I did it with pizza. You don’t need a Turkey dinner with all the trimmings to show gratitude. Gratitude is something that ought to be done all year round. In addition to all the usual suspects that I’ve written about in previous years I’m thankful for:

• Different political opinions. Every coin has two sides. Every issue has at least 2 sides (some have multiple). Very few people have the same opinion as I do, and we can still be friends, too…
• My job. It may not be the best, but the bills are getting paid, and I enjoy it for the most part.
• My health. It’s not the best, but each day, I’m up, I’m conscious, and I’m wearing pants….
• Then there’s the roof over my head, the food in the pantry (and/or available for delivery on UberEats).
• The future: things can only get better….

In an unrelated story, I noticed that 3 pairs of my shoes were wearing out. So I replaced them. I’ve had previous issues with plantar fasciitis, and one of my strategies for dealing with it is multiple pairs of shoes, so I can rotate them frequently, and not have the pressure on the same spot every day. Though the drawback is I have to buy three pairs of shoes at the same time…

A month’s worth of misadventures….

I’ve gone through 4 cable boxes in 3 weeks. It all started one day when I noticed a service package with a lower price and faster internet. And I decided to return my second DVR box. Went to the website, and it was treating it like I was placing a new order. So, I thought I’ll just go in to the Comcast store and take care of everything in person. Because the speed of the internet service I was ordering was faster than what my modem could handle, I was going to have to rent the modem from the cable company….

SO I go to the store, and basically the only thing that went as planned was the returning of the redundant DVR box. A point was made to give me a receipt for it. Got my new modem, and a replacement cable box, and went home, and couldn’t activate them. Numerous tries, and I even called 1800comcast, and realized why I still don’t like their call center (it’s outsourced overseas. I have no problem with the call center employees personally, but the accent on the line is so thick that it’s a language barrier in and of itself). One chat session on Facebook messenger was fruitless, so I slept on it. 2 hours later, I initiated another chat session, and this time I included the serial numbers and MAC addresses of both my box and the gateway. And they were able to get my internet service up and running right away. As for the cable box, a tech visit had to be scheduled. So I scheduled my next day off. And waited. In the meanwhile, I just streamed it to my phone, or I watched TV in the living room.

So the cable guy finally arrived, and got my box activated. I immediately noticed that I didn’t have any X1 programming interface, nor any premium channels, nor any DVR functions. Another chat with Comcast, and the rep asked me to send pictures of the box. It turns out I was given a DTA box instead of a X1 digital box. So, another trip to the cable to get the right box, and even the clerk there confirmed that I was given the wrong equipment. I was given the right box this time, and went home. And I couldn’t activate it. Another extended chat on Facebook messenger, and another visit was scheduled. So I went without TV for another week, and the tech came out. First verdict was that the cable box I was given was DOA. So she pulled another box out, and it wouldn’t activate either. Some more test were run, and it was realized that between the Comcast box and the cable outlet in my room, there was something interfering with the signal (the little box actually has to talk to the DVR to access recordings). So, that box went out, and the tech brought brought yet another box. This one Doesn’t connect to the wall at all. It actually connects to the DVR box via Wi-Fi (since I’m using the Comcast provided gateway),

So I’m now looking at the rat’s nest of coax cables that are now littering my room. And with this wireless box, they’re all redundant. The only draw-back to this is that the box only connect via hdmi. The tv tuners on my tower and my laptop need a coax cable to connect. I tried to connect them to the wall outlet directly, but they’re all encrypted. So I figure I’ll have to stream the channels through my computer. As for the TV tuners, I’ve ordered an amplified TV antenna.

And I think that my next computer will not have a TV tuner anymore…

The 1-2 hour power-on….

That’s how long it took from the time I turned my laptop on to the time that I could use it. Yes, there were a few patches that needed to be installed….

Anyway, my laptop still works, my weekend is over, and it’s time to go to bed. Goodnight.

Yet another weekend….

Yes, I know it’s been awhile. Sometimes life happens. It happens. I think I found my solution to my chronic urging to install Windows 7. The same thing I do with Windows XP and Windows ME: a virtual machine. At least when I get tee’ed off at it, I’m not nuking the entire computer. Which is good, since I’ve been spending way too much time tearing down the software, and reinstalling everything. And as usual, I got tee’ed off at it again, but I just simply deleted my VM and I still have a fully functioning computer.

Unplugged my air conditioner a few weeks ago. Until next spring….

Haven’t had to turn the heat on yet. I can feel the chill in the air, and my windows is still open, but my computer also had a 750w power supply, and so keeping my room warm is not yet an issue….

So, they’ve now formally started an impeachment inquiry against President Cheetos-Face. It doesn’t look good for him, in my opinion. Although in my opinion openly glorifying sexual assault (the grab them by the p*ssy comment in the Access Hollywood tape) was an automatic disqualifier for being president. The sooner he’s lawfully removed from office, the better…

Yes, it’s September 11….

It’s September 11 today. I commemorated it with business as usual. I’m not going to let the terrorists change my routine. I’m not going to give in to the fear. I’m not going to give in to the hate. Yes, in a quiet moment, I will commemorate the lives lost on that day. But I will also defy the terrorists. And sometimes, business as usual is the most defiant act you can do.

Live free or die.

The last day of my vacation

So I’m now starting the last day of my vacation. What did I do? Absolutely nothing. I didn’t go anywhere. I was going to watch the Monday Night Football Doubleheader (which was the official reason why I took a couple of days off), but I overslept the first game, and I’m that big of a Raiders fan. I was going to watch some CPL T20 cricket (I even tried setting my DVR for the matches) but the listings on WillowTV are messed up, so I missed half the matches.

Well, I was semi-productive. A couple of weeks ago, I got PO’ed at my tower, so I wiped it and reinstalled Windows 10. And Sunday & Monday night, I finished reinstalling all of my games. BTW, that’s a real pain in the ass if you have Epic or Twitch, since the only way to reinstall them is to completely download them again. Over 300 gB’s worth… At least with Steam, Origin, Uplay, and Gog, there are ways to back everything up.

Oh, and I turned on my laptop today. First time in a couple of months. Mainly to run some updates, and to charge the battery…

I guess on my last vacation day I should do something tonight. After all, I still need to do my laundry…

4 day weekend...

Normally, may days off are Monday and Tuesday nights. But I decided I need some mental health time. In the past, I would've just called in and taken a sick day, but my boss had read me the riot act a couple of time over that, and I do value continued employment. But, I put in for a couple of days' vacation. Abs my request was approved. So I'm having a 4 day weekend. Officially I told my boss that I was taking the time off so I could watch the Monday Night Football doubleheader tomorrow. But I think I'll be watching more Caribbean Premier League T20 cricket than football. Abs then there's Battlebots. Ave there's also the Puyallup Fair, too. But I think I'll start it with a little bit of football before retiring...

My adventure this weekend….

So at the start of my weekend Monday morning, I realized that I was running out of insulin. Not normally that big of a deal. Ok, so yesterday morning (aka my evening), I jump on the bus and head to the Spanaway Wally World, and pick up another vial of Novolin R (type R insulin is an over-the-counter drug, but you have to go up to the pharmacy counter to get it, as it is a refrigerated item). So I make my purchase at the pharmacy, and then I decide to get a few items from grocery. I put the pharmacy bag in my shopping basket, and then get my items. Then I check out. Cashier bagged my items up, and I was off. Got on the bus, got home. And then I realized that I my insulin wasn’t bagged. After the customary string of profanity (standard procedure for situations like this). I realized that I had to have this insulin, so off to the bus stop again. I figured I would just buy another vial and just learn my lesson. Walked into the store, and walked by the checkstand that I used to checkout. And my basket was still there. Along with my bag from the pharmacy.

Lesson leaned: look twice before you leave the checkstand….

Why is it...

Why is it that for some inexplicable reason I want some cake today? Oh well. There and things in life that should not be questioned. Happy Birthday. And if it's not your birthday today, enjoy your evening anyway... 

For the first time since 2006…

I used to assemble scale models for a hobby. Before I got my computer, and my first internet connection, it was what killed my time. My two best friends owned the hobby shop in the South Hill Mall. I mainly did 1/72nd scale kits, mainly military airplanes, and Star Trek on occasion. But I bought my computer, and going on the internet started using up more of my time, and I eventually stopped (the last model kit that I assembled and painted I actually never really finished). When I moved to Parkland, all of my paints, thinners, and my assembly tools were put away.

A couple of years ago, my sister gave me a Bandai 1/72nd scale X-Wing from the Star Wars Franchise. I was all molded in color, and no cement was required. There are a couple of other kits from the same series that are now works in progress.

Anyway, a couple of weeks ago, I was on eBay, and I found a 1/72nd scale Danube Class runabout from Deep Space 9. And I pulled the trigger. Kit arrived quickly, and I new I still had my sprue cutters and cement. And it came time to paint. Problem is, most of my paints are over 20 years old now. I did find a couple of paints that were still salvageable (and no, I’m not going to order new paint quite yet, just for a one-off impulse buy I made on my phone while on the bus).

Long story short, for the first time since 2006, I assembled a scale model. With paint and cement…

A little bit faster.

Since 2011, I've used a 802.11n for my apartment’s Wi-Fi. Wi-Fi is a must. In our previous apartment, I only had a wired router, and my brother’s computer was out in the living room (gateway was in my room, and the cable outlet for it was in another brother’s room). So there were a couple of episodes of tripping. When my brother and I first moved into this apartment, he bought his iMac and he also bought a 802.11g router. Which was soon updated to 802.11n, so I could move the cable modem and router out to the living room. In 2011, I got my first 802.11n router from Worst Buy and things were good. In my year with dsl, the modem had a Wi-Fi router built in, and so my router got retired. When I went back to cable, I got a new modem, again with Wi-Fi N onboard already.

When I built this computer, the motherboard came with 802.11ac Wi-FI. So I decided to upgrade the router. Once I got the router set up, I moved everything back out to the living room (I moved the modem back to my room a while back so I could use the faster speed a wired connection provides. And I now have a faster wi-fi connection.

And I unplugged my Echo. And it will not be coming back. Too many privacy issues. It was a Christmas present from my brother, and I do appreciate it, but still Spamazon has privacy issues, and I don’t need them eavesdropping on everything I say…

From 3 to 2

Up until earlier this week I had three lines with Sprint. 2 were for cell phones, and 1 was for my usb modem. I never used the modem. Well, I did on occaision. But for the most part, when I had access to a flat surface to pull out my laptop (a 17 inch model), I could also find a good wi-fi signal. And if I need to use my sprint LTE service, I just pulled out my phone.

Anyway, last night, I realized that not only had I paid off my modem, but I wasn’t using it, and I don’t need to pay the $30+ a month extra for a service I really didn’t need. It took three tries and I had to change my password, but I was able to cancel the line.

Though after I cancelled my line, I did get a survey spam with a specific emphasis on using chat with business (I had used Facebook messaging on one occaision to try this). It was a pretty sketchy spam. So much I reported it as a phishing attack.

The Purge, Desktop Edition….

Just did a specialized purge of sorts. Many years ago, when I went to do a system backup, it was to CD (back when I got my first Gateway, which had a CD burner). Then about 6 years into owning it, I got a DVD burner, and started backing up to DVDs. The last back-up that I burned to DVD was 10 years ago, and it was 10 DVD’s long. By then, the size of my back-ups got so big that just started using my second hard drive (in fact, at the time I had burned my last backup set I was already using my second drive). So what happened to all those back-ups I burned? Well, I was looking for something on my cumputer desk, and I realized I had two extremely overloaded DVD spindles of old DVD I burned. So I just went through them. Most of them I threw out as obsolete (like driver cd’s for components that I’ve long since thrown out, like my old Motorola surfboard cable modem, or my really old d-link router). Then there was my old TV tuner that got tossed when I cleaned out my junk drawer. And I don’t think I need my Blackberry CD anymore. Anyway, from over 2 overflowing spindles to less than one. I’m sure I threw out a few blank ones, too, but if it was dirty, I probably wouldn’t be able to read it, let alone write it.

And while I’m going through my old CD’s and DVD’s, I’ve also thrown out a packet of equal (I use Splenda, or at least the house brand equivalent from Wally World. And a bunch of McDonalds salsa packets (yes, I like their breakfast burritos…).

I’ve got a long way to go, and since I have nights off I really can’t do that much (out of respect to my downstairs neighbors who keep a normal circadian rhythm). But there’s a spot on my desk that’s clean again. It’s an obscure, out of the way location, but it’snow clean…

Second three day weekend in a row.

This was my second three day weekend in a row. Last week, on Sunday night (my ‘Friday’), I woke up with a headache which progressed to nausea, and I decided that I’m not going to puke at work. So, I called out. I had enough sick time to cover it. And after a monster and a Tylenol, it went away (probably caffeine withdrawal).

This week, it was planned. About a month ago, I requested the day off &put in for vacation time for it. And it was approved (though approval didn’t happen until after my schedule was written…

So, I finished my computer. Yes, I built it a couple of weeks ago, but there were still a few odds and ends. There was the DOA video card which was replaced, and had to be installed. And then I realized I wanted a memory card reader, so I found one cheap on Newegg. My new computer has more USB ports on the front of the tower than my HP towers had all together. Haven’t yet achieved a framerate in Flight Simulator X that I thought I would it’s still better than before….

So I was playing around with Windows ME last night….

So I was playing around with Windows ME last night. Uninstalled some software, and installed some other software. And then it flaked on me. To the point of not being able to boot. Normally, I’d be upset (more like PO’ed) and I’d end up pulling out my boot disk and nuking it all from a DOS prompt.

But this time it was different. I was just in my virtual machine (I use VMWARE Player). So I just deleted my WinME folder, and re-copied it over from my archive. I’ll try again later….

Hello World!

I built my first computer yesterday. This all started last fall with my most recent attempts to upgrade my tower. First was the computer case (ended up rendering my HP Pavilion 500-214 unbootable at all, and I had to replace the whole computer). Then last month, I tried putting in a new video card (didn’t work at all). So, a week ago, I decided to go ahead and buy the rest of the components and build my own computer. Anyway here’s the lowdown:

• AMD A12-9800 Processor. Could’ve gone with a Ryzen, but this one was initially released only a couple of years ago, and I found one dirt cheap on eBay. I’m sure I could upgrade it in the future, (I made sure that the motherboard was new).
• And cooling the aforementioned processor is an Artic Freezer 12. Since I went the cheap route on the processor, it did not come with a heat sink. And I realized that the cpu cooler I had lying wasn’t going to compatible with the AM4 socket. Fortunately, unlike my Hewlett-Packards, the motherboard didn’t need a proprietary cpu cooler, so installation was easy.
• Motherboard: ASRock X370 Killer SLI/ac. The processor is an older one, but it still works, but I made sure the motherboard was up the date. It has integrated sound, ethernet, wi-fi, and bluetooth. And it has enough open expansion ports that I can upgrade things when I can afford them.
• The case. I went with a Phanteks Enthoo Pro series PH-ES614PC_BK case. I had nothing wrong with my Hewlett-Packard towers. But there was no room for growth. I could only have one optical drive, and one hard drive. Not anymore. I currently have two hard drives in (the first time since fall of 2014) and two optical drives (the first time since I had my Gateway). The two optical drive are siginifcant, because I have a couple of spindle packs of lightscribe media lying around, and I have a lightscribe DVD burner. But I also have a Blu-Ray drive, too and now I can use both.
• As for the video card, it was going to be a Radeon™ RX 570 Gaming 4G, but the reason why I didn’t work when I tried to install it in the other tower was that it was DOA. Fortunately, I realized this when I still had two days left in the return process, and I am replacing it. Props to Newegg for the relatively painless return/exchange process (well I hope it’s painless…). In the interim, I’m running a Gigabyte GV-R725OC-2GI. I know the card is old, but it stll does the job, and I still get a decent framerate out of FSX on it…..
• 2 hard drives. Both 4 tB. And space (and SATA ports) for 2 more….
• And powering this all is a ARC 750W 80 PLUS® Bronze PSU. Especially when I’ve upgraded video cards in the past, I’ve run into problems with the power supply being overworked.
• And of course, my TV tuner (I took it out of my old tower). It still works for what I need it for, I see no need to upgrade it.

Hardware-wise everything works. So far. When I started this build, the only tool I had was my Swiss Army Knife. And yes, it is possible to take apart a computer with only a Swiss Army Knife, I reccomend that you at least get a normal screw driver. On my Hewlett-Packards, there were a couple of star bitted screws in that case that I needed the knife for, but this current case has only philips screws, and a household screwdriver will do the job handily.

The one lesson I learned from all this is DOUBLE CHECK YOUR CONNECTIONS! Got everything put together then plugged it in and turned it on. Ended up reseating the RAM twice, pulling out the video card twice (before realizing it was a dud). The last issue was the BIOS wasn’t seeing a hard drive, and it was because the SATA cable wasn’t all the way in.

I’m running Windows 10 Pro. I bought this last fall, when I thought I would need for my last computer, and due to me not looking at the fine print, I ended up over-drawing my checking account (which has since been straightened out). But I held on it, and it came in handy…

And yes, my new computer is working. After all, this post is being written on it….

Yes, I know it's been a while....

Yes, I know it's been a while since I last wrote here. A lot of it was because I decided to do a system rebuild (becasue I just can't leave well enough alone). And then I decided to go back to what I was running before. And now, it takes two weeks' of days off to get my computer rebuilt. Somebody please remind me of that the next time I decide to wipe my tower....

But with all the work I've put into my HP Pavilion 500-314, I've decided to replace it. I'm actually going with a White Box model (aka, I'm building my own). This all started with my computer case that I got last fall. I tried putting the components of my previous computer into it, (mainly so I could use for than 1 internal hard drive), and ended up rendering my computer unbootable. And then there was the attempt to upgrade my video card last month. Finally, I decided to order the rest of what I needed and get it going....

A couple of weeks ago, I decided to upgrade my coffee maker. I wanted a keurig brewer because k-cups are so convenient for just one cup. But I also wanted the ability to brew a whole pot for the days off when I drink three cups to start my day. I found the Hamilton Beach Flex Brew, on sale at the time at Newegg. The real problem came with UPS. They delivered to an access point (the same one that I've had issues with when I was shopping with Worst Buy). I immediately signed in request re-delivery w/ instruction/permission to leave it at my door.Anybody capable of rubbing two neurons together would've done it. But no, when I thought it was being reprocessed to deliver, it was still stuck at the Access Point. Finally, I had enough and ordered it to be shipped back. Newegg stepped in, and ordered UPS to deliver it to my door, which they did.

Last week, I ordered some new jeans from Wrangler. They left a delivery notice, which I signed Monday morning, and left it on the door. Had they driver bothered to get out of his vehicle he would have seen it. But he just labeled it as undeliverable, and shipped it back. Several back and forth sessions with customer service, and then I got a phone call from a supervisor who finally agreed with me that it should've been delivered, and there are now 3 UPS drivers who are going to be ripped new ones. Which is good because I have a new power supply, motherboard, and RAM being UPS'ed (see the second paragraph of the post).

Weather is really warming up. I've had my air conditioner on since March. And yesterday, my brother set up the AC in the living room....

The Purge Returns

Got up tonight, and I put grew tired of typing on my shoes just to get to the light switch. So once again, I started to clean my room. 3 bags full of garbage. Most of it being from around my waste basket. I'm not done by a long shot but my easy chair is now a chair again, all my Star Wars model kits are but away, and all the shipping boxes from my misadventures on Newegg are thrown out. And I have visible floor space again.

Next up will be my computer desk. I have a new coffeemaker arriving tomorrow... 

Windows 10 1903 is out.

Latest version of 10 is out. It didn't show up when I ran windows update, so I used the Media Creation Tool to get it. Tried to burn it to a flash drive, but it didn't take for some reason. So, I'm installing it directly. It is taking a while to install (currently on 25% of updates). But I've got a Tv to watch.

Ordered a new video card. My R7 200 is running perfectly fine, but Newegg had an RX 580 (IIRC) on sale abs I can always use a better frame rate in FSX. 

Trouble eating out…

Tried eating out at Jacking Off In The Box. Placed my order at 8:57 pm. Paid $10.98 for it. And ended up leaving 15 minutes later without my food or a refund (and no progress had been made on my order). Went to their website to complain, and jumped through all of their hoops. And was promptly ignored. A week later, I went to Twitter, and sent them a DM on Twitter. And was ignored again. Over  a week after my initial complaint, I was sent an survey spam email on behalf of Jacking Off In The Box. Eventually, I got a form letter DM back offering a certificate. I told them to go shove it, because:

1. I really doubt that the ‘certificate’s’ value will cover what I actually paid (for items I never received).
2. There are documented cases of Jacking Off In The Box sending gift certificates that are already expired! Meaning, that they pretty much never intended to make the customers right.
3. But the real reason why they can go shove shove their gift certificates up their asses is that to accept them would be to acknowledge that I’m coming back. In the time that I was waiting for my order form a supposed fast food establishment, I could’ve gone across the street to Shari’s, been seated, placed my order, and received it on a real plate with real utensils.

Last week, I finally got a reply from my original complaint. Basically, yet another form letter completely disregarding the fact that I never received the goods and services which I paid for, and only offering a ‘complimentary certificate’. But the only part that I can quote from it is:

This email communication and any attachments may contain confidential information which also may be legally privileged and is intended only for the use of the intended recipients identified above. If you are not the intended recipient of this communication, you are hereby notified that any unauthorized review, use, dissemination, distribution, downloading, or copying of this communication is strictly prohibited. Additionally, if you have received this communication in error, please immediately notify us by replying to this email, delete the communication and destroy all copies.

So, I paid $10.98 at Jack in the Box. At 8:57pm on April 12 at store #8305. I never received my food. My complaints were officially ignored (if it takes you more than a week to respond, then your response is irrelevant). And all I eventually got for my complaints were 2 form letters, a questionable offer for a meaningless certificate, my personal information sold to a third party, and a not-so-subtle SLAPP threat.

Hey Jack In The Box:

• Your food is shit. It never looks like it is advertised, especially the tacos. Usually the main ingredient in them is grease.
• You food is overpriced. Especially when I never received what I paid for!
• Your customer service is atrocious. It always seemed that whenever I go to Jack In The Box in general, and store #8305 in particular, I have to wait at the counter for an unacceptably long time. And then I have to wait even longer for my order. But hey, they know that you’re just going to ignore complaints, so they can get away with this.
• If you really want to make this situation good, I want my $10.98 back. In verifiable funds. I don’t want your worthless, pre-expired ‘certificates’. You’ve made it already quite clear that I’m not welcome at your establishment, even after I placed and paid for my order. And if I can’t trust you to deliver on said order, than I will not accept a company check, either (your word is just plain not good. Period).
• And you can also shove that confidentiality notice up your ass as well.
• But whatever. Just go back to ignoring your customers and go fuck off, thieves…

Been about two weeks

It's been about two weeks since I upgraded my phone. And I've reached the point of no going back. I deleted all the other ROMs that I had for my other phones (I even had one from my old EVO 3D which I don't even know where it is). I doubt think I'm going to be using my old phones anymore, if not fit anything else than that it costs me $36 to activate each time, each phone (it's not like I can just pop in the sim card, like my T-Mobile days).

I also got a wireless charger. And it works, even through my OtterBox... 

---

I've found a new sport

I've been following cricket a lot lately. I guess that's a side effect of having a boss from India for the past 13 1/2 years who's really into cricket. But I've found out recently that Xfinity has moved WillowTV (a cable channel that covers only cricket) from a separate premium channel to a service tier that I already have. Ave the Indian Premier League is running. They've also staggered the schedule so that there is one match every morning (owing to the time difference between Parkland and India). But the my high point will be the World Cup coming in a month abs a half.... 

So, I've had my phone for about a week now...

So, I've had my phone for about a week now. I'm impressed with it. Some thoughts:

• The battery life. 4000mh. That's huge. When I had my EVO 3D, I had an external battery charger that was only half that size. 
• The power management. Yes it had a big battery, but it also uses it well. Even if I forget to charge my phone at lunch, I still have enough juice to go the distance. Whereas with my HTC 10, I had to charge it on my lunch. 
• The display size. Not a big as my old tablet (but quite close). I can fire up the Kindle app and actually read something, without struggling over the size of the display (yes, when I last went to the eye doctor, I had 20/20, but that won't last forever). And streaming will be a happier experience. 
• The security. My previous phone had just a fingerprint scanner. My current phone has one, too. It also supports iris and facial scanning. I like being to unlock my phone just by looking at it. Abs the fingerprint scanner is located where I can unlock the phone using it with only one hand.
• More ram. More ram=more stuff I can have running at once. Though this has a tendency to kill the battery...
• The storage space. My phone has 128 gB on it, not including the memory card. 

The rest of what I like about my phone is simply software related. Though I miss Sense. Abs the ability to root my phone. Though I can survive... 

Waiting....

Second day of my weekend here. Slowly 'moving in' to my new phone. Surprisingly, I can still use my phone without root, though I do miss the ability to dig around the internals, like my previous phones.

But that is not what I'm waiting for. I decided I want pizza for breakfast (owing to my inverted sleep cycle due to work), so I ordered Papa John's. And it should've been here 10 minutes ago...

Another first tonight…..

All the times I’ve had Windows 10 on my tower, whenever I’ve decided to wipe it, it was by my choice. Usually because I wanted to go back to a previous version of windows. My days of rendering Windows completely unbootable were behind me. I thought.

Until tonight. Somehow I successfully managed to make WIndows 10 unbootable on my Tower. Fortunately, I have two things going for me: A recent backup, and my laptop. So I’m now wiping the tower again. And I have a laptop that I can use until I get the tower ready (currently I’m restoring my Steam archive to my laptop)…

For the first time...

With the exception of 2 months in 2009, when I tried using a BlackBerry, all my phones have been HTC products, starting from my T-Mobile Shadow, all the way to my most recent HTC 10. When I paid the phone bill yesterday morning, I also paid off my phone, and so I became eligible for an upgrade. Sprint doesn't currently offer any HTC phones, so i decided on a Samsung. Unfortunately, Samsung has gotten really good at locking their phones. So I've decided I will not be rooting my next phone. The only reason why I rooted my phones anymore was so I could kill ads with a HOSTS file. There are ways of killing ads without HOSTS (like the adblock extension in Firefox.

So, I've decided to upgrade my phone. And rooting is out of the question for the moment. But it will be worth it. I getting a Samsung Galaxy Note 9...

And yes, I know the irony of writing this post on my old phone...

The Weekend Begins….

Normally, I took Tuesday Nights and Wednesday Nights off. Irregardless of what my schedule said, per management. I did lead to a lot of marks in my record regarding no-show/no-call, but when I asked management what I should be doing, they did confirm that my days off were Tuesday and Wednesday nights.

But there was a management change recently, and they new manager wants us to follow our written schedules. And so my weekend has been changed (to make sure days off are staggered). And so my weekend begins now.

Rather warm of late....

Tuesday and Wednesday nights are normally my nights off. Last night, I thought I was going to be off, but due to short staffing at work, I had to come in. But I've also been fighting a bug for the past week. Basically, the day before my last day at Mrs. Fields, the owner's wife came in, and said that her mother-in-law had the flu, and from the 2 minute conversation, I caught it. It's not really that bad, just annoying. And owing to the fact that we're short-staffed at my main job, I have to stay late with cuts into my sleep time. And that means that I can't NyQuil and sleep this off. So I'm averaging about 3 hours of sleep a night. And when I woke up yesterday, I could tell that the cough has taken it's toll on my voice. So I took a sick day. My employer has tightened up its attendance policies, and they can now affect quarterly bonuses, but I'm doing nobody any favors going to work sick.

So, I took a sick day last night. And I noticed that it's been rather warm of late. So I set my air-conditioner up again. It's was right were I left it. I just put the exhaust hose back up in the window. It's not even April, and I already have the AC on. Although once the current spell of warm weather passes, I'll probably take it down again, put up my window fan instead. For now...

Ok, it’s 2019 already…

Why are we still shooting up houses of worship? If you have to resort to violence to prove that you have a better invisible friend, then you’ve lost the argument. There is no place for hate. If you think that somebody’s life is forfeit because they worship God differently (or a different God), or they come from a different country, or their skin color is different, or they are otherwise different from you, then you really need to rethink your life and your priorities.

There is no place for hate. Violence is evil. Period. Any questions?

All good things…

It has been said that all good things must come to an end. Even vacations. Technically, I haven’t been on vacation. I only took time off from one job, so I could cover the owner’s vacation at Mrs. Fields. But the schedule and the duties have been sufficiently different that it seems like a vacation. But whatever it is, it is coming to an end. Tomorrow night is when I return to my first job. Though I could’ve gotten used to working the day shift. Seriously. But it’s time to go back to work. And it’ll be awhile before I get a vacation. For some reason, whenever I call in sick, it’s my vacation time that gets the hit (and not the sick leave)…..

The past week’s misadventures on my phone…

I finally decided to upgrade my phone from Nougat to Oreo. Since my phone is S-off, it just means flashing the Oreo firmware and then flashing the ROM. Which went well, without any complications. unfortunately, I didn’t like the Oreo ROM. I was so used to the options I had to customize my Nougat ROM. So I thought it would be pretty straightforward. Reflash the Nougat firmware, then the recovery, and then the ROM. Ok, so I did that. And then I didn’t have my fingerprint scanner anymore. Reflashed the Oreo ROM, and everything worked again. Repeated this a couple of times, and each time, I couldn’t use my fingerprint scanner. Finally I downloaded the Factory ROM (Nougat) from Sprint, and ran the execuatable, and it install everything back onto my like it was from the Factory. So I then reflashed my custom Nougat ROM again, and the hardware worked, but I had no LTE data connection. Fortunately, Pierce Transit buses now have WiFi. So, yesterday I reflashed the factory ROM and this time I let it run, which I should’ve done in the first place, as it had to do a hands-free activation again. Once that was done, I then reflashed my custom Nougat ROM, and everything now works again.

If it ain’t broke, then don’t try to fix it….

An ugly match…

I just finished watching LA FC vs. Sporting KC. LA had 3 yellow cards. Sporting KC had 7 yellow cards, and 1 red card. LA eventually won in stoppage time. Very scrappy play….

Day off on my vacation….

With the way the schedule was written at Mrs Fields, I have today off. Let me repeat this: I HAD SUNDAY OFF. Which means I had the Vizio 55” on with various and sundry Association Football matches on. Starting off with the English Premier League. Then I caught a Bundesliga match (Stuttgart vs. Hannover 96). The there was some Hockey. And Rugby 7s. And Cactus League (the Mariners won today, btw). And now I’m watching MLS (specifically LA FC vs. Sporting KC). The one thing that stands out with the match tonight is that it’s still only the first half, and Sporting KC already has 5 yellow cards. That will come back to haunt you when the ref starts handing out red cards.

I can now honestly say that I’m now a fan of another sport: Rugby Union…

On vacation….

Some I’m on day 2 of my vacation. I’ll be on vacation for 2 more weeks. With my current fulltime employer, I haven’t accrued two weeks of vacation yet, but they’re letting me take it as unpaid time off. But I’m not off work. The store owner at Mrs. Fields himself is taking a vacation out of the country (to India, to be exact), and I’m filling in. But working at Mrs. Fields is different enough from scrubbing floors and toilets at my current job, that it’s just like a vacation. And I could really get used to working on the day shift, and sleeping during the night, instead of the opposite (which is what I’m doing currently at my employer)…..

So what all happened on my weekend this week…

Basically, I got sick. My ‘Friday’ (what you would call Monday night/Tuesday morning) started alright. Then lunchtime came. I got a cheesesteak calzone from the deli, paid for it, and went to the breakroom and ate it. Then it came time to go back to work, so I resumed scrubbing the floors. A couple of hours later, I started feeling slightly upset in my stomach, but it wasn’t enough to even force me to go to the restroom. I had too much to do, so I ended up taking another lunch to finish my assigned tasks, and while doing that I didn’t eat anything (this was at 8 in the morning, and my previous dose of insulin was at 3:30am). I finished my tasks, and went to clock out, and I realized that my blood sugar was low. I don’t know how I missed the signs of it earlier (usually the symptoms come down gradually enough that I can address it before it gets too far along). Maybe the queasy stomach masked it. Anyway by the time I got to personnel to clock out, I was out of it. I was offered a ride home, so I took it.

I don’t remember much after that, just standing at the street corner, waiting for a bus that wasn’t going to come because I wasn’t at the stop. Eventually I wound my way home, and as my insulin dose wore off, my blood sugar went back up, and I came around. From a little bit past 9 am to 12:30 pm Tuesday, I have virtually no memory of what transpired.

So, I’m now home, and I’ve decided that my weekend has officially begun. Realizing that hypoglycemia was still an issue, I fixed a cup of cocoa, and sucked on a couple of mints. Remember that queasy feeling I was telling you about earlier in this post? This is when the calzone decided to come back up. And then 4 hours later, it came back up again. And it came out of the other end, too. So, it came time to take another insulin shot, and low and behold, I was so loopy when I left work that I had left my coat and backpack behind. Of course, by the time I realized this all the pharmacies had closed so I couldn’t just go out and by another vial. That had to wait until morning. So the following morning came, and by now I was puking because my blood sugar had gone up too high. I could take a sip of water, and be over the rail 20 minutes later. I eventually got to Wally World, bought my insulin, dosed said insulin, and 4 hours later I could keep stuff down again.

When I got back to work Thursday night, my coat and backpack were exactly were I left them….

Inslee is running….

Governor Jay Inslee has announced his candidacy for president. And he’s running on basically climate change. Al Gore, Mk II.

I’m not going to choose a candidate right now. Aside from the snippets on CNN, I’m not even following the race. It’s just started too early. The debates should be lively this election. Maybe Don King should hype them….

Cohen went before congress this past week. And he sang. While he did lie initially (and plead guilty to it), he did seem to come clean this time. At least he brought proof for at least some of his allegations. Yes, his credibility has been shot to hell, but he seems honest and sincere this time. Time will tell, and if there’s is corroborating evidence…

What President Cheetos-Face needs to worry about is less about the Mueller report, and more about the SDNY (the US Attorney for the Southern District of New York). I feel there could be a RICO indictment awaiting his departure from the White House….

Just to let you know….

Major League Rugby is in season. And the matches are on YouTube. And Seattle are the defending champions. Come to think of it, the Seahawks made it all the way to the playoffs in a rebuilding year. The Mariners had a winning season last year. And the Sounders FC have made it to post-season play for 10 years straight…..

When you look at the big picture, the Seattle sports scene isn’t all that bad….

Just woke up….

Just got up and flipped the TV on Chris Cuomo just mentioned a lasagna of lies. And I have issues with that. What have lasagna done to deserve that kind of insult? I guess I should change the channel.

Good morning, people….

Snowmegeddon Mk 2 is here!

Survived the first Snowmegeddon. Mainly because I was already on the bus to work when it hit. Toughed it out. And the roads were mainly bare and wet pavement by this afternoon. And then Mk 2 hit. Got up, got dressed and looked out the window. Noped it out of work. Yes, I ride the bus to work, and my employer has tightened up the attendance policy recently. But we are now under a state of emergency, and even the governor has said to stay inside. And buses have gotten into accidents in weather like this.

So in the interests of my safety, I called out tonight. Tomorrow night, the roads should be sanded and plowed enough that I’ll make it to work…

Brrrr

It’s been really cold the past few days. Like down into the teens. Snowmageddon Mk 1 hit Sunday night. And that was the night that it was my turn to go out and police the parking lot at work. It was very picturesque to be out in the falling snow. I would’ve taken pictures, but my employer frowns upon using personal devices on company time, and I prefer to toe the company line (but more on that later perhaps). Monday morning, the roads were treacherous. Monday was really cold, but the plows were out, and I had no issues getting to work. Tuesday morning, most of the roads I went on were bare and wet pavement (though I only go on the main arteriels). Last night, even the sidewalks were bare. Though it it still freeze your balls off cold outside.

And now they’re saying Snowmageddon Mk 2 will hit this weekend. But still we’re better here than the polar vortex that hit the midwest last week….

For some inexplicable reason, cake seems good today. I just don’t know why. Happy Birthday.

A Bonus Day Off This Week….

My ‘Friday’ is Monday night/Tuesday morning. My past ‘Friday’, with only an hour to go, the boss suggested to me rather strongly that I take a vacation day on Thursday (mainly to cut overtime, since I had to stay an hour late on a couple of days to finish my assigned tasks). So, I got a bonus three day weekend. Though it means that I’ve just burned through what’s left of my vacation time.

But I’m not looking a gift horse in the mouth. Any time when I can get a three-day weekend and not get in trouble for it (for attendance) will be a good thing. And it looks like I’ll be getting another 3-day weekend in a couple of weeks, as I’m taking a vacation day on Valentine’s Day so I can work at Mrs. Fields…

Render Unto Ceasar, 2019 Edititon

Just filed my taxes. For all the much bally-hooed Tax Reform that President Cheetos-Facepushed through and gloated about last year, my refund will actually be less than last year. But, on the bright side, I will be getting a refund. And even a small refund is even better than having to pay…

On the Bird Box Challenge

I have Netflix. One of the surprise hits on Netflix is a movie called Bird Box. I'm not going into the plot of it here (Google it, if you need). With this movie, there is a Bird Box Challenge, wherein people are challenged to do normal, everyday tasks while blindfolded. Unfortunately, somebody was sufficiently stupid enough to try the Bird Box Challenge while driving. With obvious results.

But I will never see Bird Box the movie. Nor will I do the Bird Box challenge. The reason being is that Monty Python and the Holy Grail is also on Netflix, and is a much more important film to watch. I don't need a stinkin' blindfold. I just need a person to follow me around with an oversize backpack and coconuts....

11 years' worth of storage...

11 years ago, my old PIII had a 160 gigabyte hard drive in it. I just realized last night that my archive is now 1.5 terabytes (10 times the space). And it takes about 7 hours to copy it over whenever I rebuild my system. Normally I let this task run overnight, and I turn my monitor off... Yes, I know I have too much crap....

And to think that when I ordered my first computer, I thought that the 30 gigabyte hard drive was plenty...

Have you seen my voice?

Caught cold right before Christmas. Was sick enough that I had to take a sick day right before Christmas, but I held up. The symptoms have pretty much subsided except for the annoying cough. I could deal with the cough as it was productive, and I figured if it’s bringing up the crud, I’ll be over it soon. But last week, I realized that I’m hoarse. And I’ve been hoarse for a while. So I ended up taking a sick day Monday night to self medicate with my supply of tea. Then with my ensuing two day weekend, that gave me three days off to get my voice back. My voice isn’t completely back, and I’m still coughing up crud, but I’m feeling better. I may just bring my tea to work, and see if my boss will let me bring my thermos with me while I’m at work. May not happen, but it doesn’t hurt to ask…

Yes, I’m a fan of AC/DC, but I’ll do without the Brian Johnson voice….

Linux is dead. Long live Linux.

A couple of weeks ago, I decided to get myself something for Christmas (after finishing up my Christmas shopping), and so I bought the first 7 games of the Assassin's Creed franchise for my computer on Steam. After downloading the games, I backed them up and proceeded to wipe my tower to put one last install of Windows 7 on. I got to the point to where I restored my Steam library, and I verified that I have a valid back-up. Then I decided I wanted to go with Windows 8.1 instead. After I installed that, and while I was restoring my software, I decided to go back to Windows 10, which is what I’m running now. But on the bright side, I didn’t have to do a complete wipe to go from Win8.1 to Win10. I finished the rebuild last week, and I decided to do a complete back up of my Steam games. It took about 24 hours to do it (you do have to consider the fact that I have 185+ games now).

So last night, I decided to give OpenSuSE another try. Took me three tries to resize my hard drive to create some space, but I did. Then I took my install DVD and booted my system off it. And nothing happened. And I then remembered my previous attempt to install Linux would’ve involved wiping partitions that I wasn’t comfortable with. So, I say Linux is dead. Long Live Linux…

Today is payday…

Today is payday. I’m getting paid. It’s not that much. I’m not going to be rich by any means. But it is a fair paycheck (despite all the rumors on the internet, my employer is actually very fair). But there are about 800,000 Federal Employees who are currently furloughed and/or are working without pay (tomorrow will be a missed payday for them). Because President Cheetos-Face wants his fucking wall. And he’s sticking it to innocent third parties. I may not hold the TSA in the highest of esteem, but they are workers and they deserve to be paid for their labors. For the most part, the supposed wall is a waste of money, and there are more effective ways of securing the southern border. But he needs to feed his racist ego, and he doesn’t care who gets hurt.

But I really think that his days are numbered. Apparently there is even more evidence on collusion with the Russians. But Mueller is being thorough in his probe, and there are no leaks. So I have to wait and watch for now.

The sooner President Cheetos-Face is lawfully removed from office the better we’ll be. The best description I can give of his administration is corrupt….

Ni! I demand a shrubbery!

I’m not linking to any story about this one, you can just Google for it. But Michael Palin is being knighted. You may remember him as the Leader of The Knights Who Say Ni. He was also Sir Galahad the Chaste. And he was also Brother Maynard’s Brother (he actually read Armaments 2:9-21). But the irony is that he’s not being knighted for who work in Monty Python. He’s being knighted for his contributions as a travel writer and host…

Now if they could only knight John Cleese for his services in The Ministry Of Silly Walks….

It’s been a tough year so far…

The new year is only two day and change old. And so far we’ve already lost Mean Gene Okerlund, The Captain (from The Captain and Tenille), and Super Dave Osbourne. Life is such a frail thing. Here today, gone tomorrow….

Should Auld Acquaintance Be Forgot, 2018 Edition….

So, it’s been 2019 for about 13 hours so far. I was at work when the ball dropped, but fortunately I was outside at the time, so I got to see some fireworks from the neighboring areas.  A lot happened this past year:

I changed jobs (same employer, but I moved to a new position). I went from working swing shift to overnights. I got to see my 93 year old grandmother for the first time in 2 years. I decided to quit shopping at Worst Buy, and I also cut up most of my credit cards, though the Worst Buy Card was the only one that I outright cancelled. I broke my computer (as in physically broke it so it wouldn’t boot up anymore), and had to replace it. And it’s replacement was so similar to the original one that Microsoft still thinks that it’s the same computer. Which I should’ve realized before I decided to buy another Windows 10 Pro license for it. Which overdrew my account (though I survived). I bought another pair of Columbia’s. I upgraded to Amazon Music Unlimited, which is how I almost exclusively listen to music now. For the first time even I had to leave negative feedback for an eBay transaction. I had to spend almost $150 to fix my bike. I replaced both inner tubes and 1 tire. I bought Flight Simulator X on Steam, so I can have installed on both my laptop and my tower. The Mariners had a winning season, while both the Sounders FC and the Seahawks punched their tickets to the post-season. And Seattle is going to get a NHL franchise.

And I should also mention that Michael Palin is getting a knighthood. Though it is not for being the leader of the Knights Who Say Ni!….