And again after I complained on this blog, the issue is fixed. Somebody at Google must read this blog.
In case you’re wondering why I wiped my drive and started over from scratch, I made a couple of BIOS changes (actually it’s now called UEFI), to make sure TPM is enabled. Apparently Windows 11 is coming out, and I wanted to make sure my system will be ready to run it. Good news is that it will. That's a good thing since I can’t afford to build another computer…
Wiped the tower. While reinstalling Open Live Writer, I logged in to Google. And it can no longer download my blog layout. Logged into blogger (via Chrome), and again I couldn’t even edit my layout or my blog’s theme (I got a ‘405’ error). And when I went to the URL of this blog just to view it, I was greeted with a captcha challenge.
I’ve been on blogger for over 15 years. And the games are still being played. Perhaps it’s time I moved my eggs into a different basket…
Had a bet with the now former owner of the Mrs. Fields about the winner of the World Test Championship. If India won, I’d buy the coffee on my next visit. If New Zealand won, he’d buy. New Zealand won. India came in third. But the English weather came in second place (two days were rained out).
So I won a bet. But since I had paid for the coffee on Tuesday, I told him to buy his wife a coffee instead….
I told a couple of friends that the Mrs Fields had closed, and one of them replied that they had an opening. So I put my hat into the ring. And last Friday, I got a phone call. The talk was for a closing position, but he closed at the same time I started my work, but he told me I could change my start time and ride my bike. Not thinking about it, I thought it was cool. And so that ‘night’ (remember I sleep during the day) I got my bike ready. Then I went to bed. Somewhere during the day, I realized the distances involved. 85+ blocks. No go for my bike. A quick look at Google Maps showed that there was a nearby bus stop. And the Metro route that serves it has 24/7 service. But to make the connection to my other job would still involve connecting to Pierce Transit, and they essentially shut down at 10pm. So it’s still a no go. Ultimately it boils down to the logistics aren’t there. And I cant just quit my current job for it, either.
And the final nail in the coffin was that I did talk to management about if I could shift my schedule an hour (just for the sake of due diligence). And I was told that they are unable to change the schedules at this time (basically everyone on the overnight shift needs to have the same schedule).I haven’t said anything about this, as I feel it would be beating a dead horse, and I don’t want to inflame the situation any further…
So an opportunity came up last week. And I had to pass on it…
I think somebody from Google is reading the blog. After I was b*tching in the last post about how something on the backend of Blogger was fuckered up, suddenly Open Live Writer is able to download the theme of this blog, so I can see what my posts look like somewhat before I publish them…
If you see some items missing from my blog, it’s because I’m having issues with it. For some reason, I can’t edit my blog’s theme anymore. I’ve left it unchanged for years (if it ain’t broke then don’t fix it). But now all of the sudden, when I set up Open Live Writer, it won’t download the blog’s theme. And when I log into blogger to see if I can edit it, I get a 405 error, or Google flags me as a robot, and I get captchas ad nauseum. I can’t even load one of the stock templates from Blogger’s own website!
I’ve tried everything I know to troubleshoot it, but it seems there’s something on Google’s end that’s fucked up. I took down some of the elements that were returning 405 errors, but I’m still having issues….
So, for those of who don’t know, I acquired one of the store computers from then the Mrs Fields closed a couple of weeks ago. It was missing a hard drive, and a dvd drive. I had a few spare hard drives floating around, and a dvd drive is dirt cheap. So I ordered one on Spamazon. It arrived, and I realized I needed a bracket to install it, and so I ordered it from eBay. It arrived yesterday. It doesn’t quite fit, but I can make it work (I’m not putting that much effort into this, as it’s a 10+ year old computer). (Edit: I think I just found the right bracket on Spamazon. Ordered used).
So, as it stands, I can install an OS on it and start using it (it still has the sticker on it with the Windows 7 serial number), and I can download the drivers for it from the manufacturer. But I’m just lazy. Besides, I really don’t need to. If I need to run Windows XP, Windows ME, Or even Windows 7, I can run it in VMWare on my current Tower…
Last night, I got up. Shaved. Showered. Got dressed and headed out to the bus stop. When I got there, another woman arrived at the bus stop, and she was drinking. I could smell the alcohol through my mask (I’m fully vaccinated, and a Covid survivor, but Pierce Transit still requires masks as it’s a federal mandate and not really worth the argument). And she was having a heated argument with the voices in head, and losing the same. So the bus arrives, and I think the driver’s going to deny her service (being intoxicated on the bus=not cool with Pierce Transit). And then the driver tells me that he’s full, I need to catch the next bus. And then he slams the door in my face and drives off.
If I caught the next bus I’d be an hour late at work. And that’s if I was able to catch it. My apartment is only 10-15 minutes from the beginning of the bus route and if it’s full by the time it gets to me, then there’s a better than average chance that it’ll be full the next trip. So I called out. I know I’m already treading on thin ice, but I can’t afford the Uber to downtown Tacoma. And it’s not really worth the worry.
But I did send an EECB (Executive Email Carpet Bomb) to the Pierce Transit board of commissioners, asking them how am I supposed to get to work if the bus service is unreliable. And why was somebody who was intoxicated (and possibly having an open container) given preferential treatment?
