Should Auld Acquaintance Be Forgot, 2022 Edition (Early)

Sorry if this appears to be early, but I have to work tonight, and calling out on holidays is strongly discouraged at work (especially after I had to call out on December 23/24 last week due to the ice storm. BTW freezing rain sucks…). So, in no particular order (other than what pops into my head), here’s what happened this year:

• I watched a Test cricket match in it’s entirety. (BTW, Australia defeated Pakistan).
• I upgraded the processor on my computer (2700X to 3800x, both Ryzen 7).
• Wrecked the 3800X in a CPU cooler gone terribly wrong.
• Started using my old HP Tower again (my HP Pavilion 500-314).
• Realized I had a bad power cable, and was able to get my tower working again with the 2700X.
• Bought another 3800X.
• Got used to Windows 11. But I prefer Windows 10 more. When Windows 10 is no longer supported, I’m ready for 11.

(The last few items all happened in the last two months).

• Didn’t buy any shoes this year.
• Went from my Motorola RAZR 2019 back to my Samsung Galaxy Note 9.
• Went from my Samsung Galaxy Note 9 to a Samsung Galaxy S22 Ultra.
• Started using my Blu-Ray player again.
• I’ve gone a whole year without setting foot in a mall. The only reason I would now would be for a Target run, but I have that delivered (now more because of Pierce Transit’s f*cked up scheduling than anything else. It is now next to impossible to make a connection at from Pacific Avenue to 122th St (or likewise) in less than an hour).
• My AC tried to die on me. After leaving it unplugged for two weeks, it reset. And I needed it, this summer was hot. I wouldn’t say really hot, but is was consistently hot. It wasn’t until October that I was able to take it down for good.
• The Mariners made it to the post-season. Then choked it.

The there are various and sundry passings like Benedict XVI, Barbara Walters, Angela Lansbury, Gilbert Gottfried to name a few.

2022 was a trip. Now on to 2023. See you next year.

A Boxing Day to remember….

Worked Christmas night. Not a big deal. Par for the course with employer. Get home Monday morning. Peeled off all my clothes (it really rained all night long, and I was caught out in it). Jumped in the shower, and then straight to bed. Even earlier than normal. And I slept. And slept. And I feel much better now. Nothing like 10+ of sleep to recover from the holidays. And the pulled muscle/hernia that I’ve been dealing with this past week has cleared up considerably. I think the cough I've been putting up with gave it to me. Btw, the cough has settled down, too. With the warmer temperatures of late, I've actually kept my windows open for the fresh air…

So, when we last our heroes on Christmas morning, we had ordered Jack(ing Off) In The Box for delivery. It never showed up. The driver called us and said that they were out of everything. I think it was the manager being a prick, but it wasn’t worth the complaint. So I went to 7-11, and grabbed a couple of Big Bites. Just a mental note here: don’t do it again. Especially when you’re going to your sister’s in a few hours.

With the chip in my tower back to being a 3800X, I’ve decided to go all-in on Windows 11. As in a clean install. If I want to go nostalgic for the look and feel of a previous version, I have WindowBlinds and Start11 now. And that’s a lot easier than completely wiping my tower every time I want the look and feel of Windows 7…

Memories of Christmas past….

Growing up in all the various and sundry places we used to live (military family, but that’s another post). Getting up after a sleepless night, and going to our stockings. And finding it topped off with a single serving sized box of cereal. I usually got Raisin Bran (to this day, it is still one of my favorites). Some years, there was a big jar of pickles next to it (I still like pickles).

Fast forward to today. Since my brother and I go out to our sister’s house to celebrate, we dispense with the Christmas tree. Got up this morning, and brought my gift to my brother out (nothing much, just a tin of popcorn and a gift card to Wally World).

And as for the single serving sized boxes of cereal, we just ubered Jack(ing Off) In The Box…

And I should add…

And I should add after my last post, that it is now in the 50s outside and raining. So the icy conditions should be pretty much cleared up. Nothing melts ice quicker than cold,running water….

I missed Festivus this year….

I didn’t Air my Grievances, and there were no Feats of Strength. And it was the weather that is to blame.

Let’s rewind to December 22 (Thursday). Get  up, and I’m greeted by a Winter Storm Warning from the National Weather Service (I have Accu-Weather installed on both my phone and tower). They were saying freezing rain. Hindsight being 20/20, I should’ve called off work. But I didn’t. Roads were fine, so off to work I went. I got my assignments from my supervisor, the first one being pulling the trash from the parking lot. Towards then end of that task, I noticed that it was raining, and parking lot was icing over (the freezing rain, as predicted). The rest of my tasks that night were inside, so I concentrated on them.

At about a quarter to 7, I got text notifications from Sound Transit that express bus service was suspended indefinitely. King County Metro was on snow routes. And Pierce Transit was suspending all service until 7 am (and then on snow routes). Normally, I’d take the 8 o’clock bus, but I decided to finish my Christmas shopping and wait for the 9 o’clock bus. At 8 am, Pierce Transit suspended service until 10 am. At about 9 am, I started to head to the bus stop (normally a 15 minute walk, but I wanted to give myself extra time because everything was covered with sheet ice. I barely got out of the parking lot when I got the text that Peirce Transit was suspending service until it was safe to drive. So I went back to work, and booked an Uber. Not cheap. I had a coworker who lives along Pacific Avenue, and so I adjusted my ride to add her stop.

Got off work at about 7 am. Got home at about 11:30 am. My apartment’s parking lot was thoroughly iced over, even the walks. But I made it home. And then at about noon, I realized that buses still weren’t running, and I was scheduled to work last night. I called out. Wasn’t sure if bus service would be restored, and I wasn’t really in the mood to deal with the icy walk to the bus stop. Sent an email to the location manager explaining my reasoning, and I went to bed.

While I was asleep, Pierce Transit finally started service at 4. I looked out the window, and saw the ice still in my parking lot, and decided it wasn’t worth it (and I had already reported my absence). So I stayed home last night.

And during all this, I forgot about Festivus. Oh well, there’s always next year.

Happy Holiday to all!

The damage is finally undone….

Finally was able to replace the processor I f*cked up 2 months ago. Now comes the worst part: the cleanup….

A little creative bookkeeping….

Payday was last week. First I paid out all the bills due before the next payday. Then I realized that I could afford to replace the Ryzen 7 3800x that I fucked up last month. That will arrive later this week.

Did something today that I normally don’t do of late. I crossed Pacific Avenue. Normally when I do grocery shopping, I’ll have Target deliver, or I’ll catch the bus down to Wally World. But today, I crossed Pacific Avenue and went to Saar’s Marketplace. A bit on the expensive side, but I’m not paying a delivery fee, and dealing with the bus schedule….