So, it’s in the 80’s outside….

I had to run my daily errand this morning. I was hot then. When I got home it got even hotter. My apartment does have air conditioning. We have a gutless portable AC that can keep the living room cool, but not our rooms. Today wasn’t going to be the hottest of this heat wave, but with judicious use of fans, I've been able to stay bearable in my room. But tomorrow, it will be use the laptop in the living room. I guess I’ll suffer. We only get one or so of these heat waves each year. Let’s hope this will be the only one….

Really, really fast….

I relocated the cable modem to my room today. My apartment has two cable outlets, one in the living room, and one in my room. I used to always have the modem/gateway out in the living room, and everything connected with Wi-Fi. And so there was always a compromise in speed. Even with an ‘N’ class router, my speed was always ‘meh’. Then I realized that if I moved the router to my room, I can connect the Tower with Ethernet. And wired is always faster than Wi-Fi. Like 100 megs. So I moved the modem and connected everything. And I noticed that I have a longer Ethernet cable handy, so my laptop has an uberfast connection, too…

Yes, I’ve had my issues with Comcast. But just this once, I will concede that they’re doing something right when it comes to speed. As for my iffy Wi-Fi connection, there was still more than enough to connect 2 blu-ray players, 2 smart tv’s, 2 laptops, 2 towers, 2 printers,and 2 smartphones. Come to think of it, that might have been the issue…

My one errand today….

So like I said earlier today, I got called in short notice. I was only there for a short while. Then we were hungry. And it was my turn to pay (when we order out, we take turns, and it was my turn). So we ordered burgers from Red Robin. And learning my lesson from the last time, I didn’t order any shakes. And on my way home, I stopped at the Wally World in Puyallup and got my insulin (which was my original errand to run today).

Now I’m watching the Mariners game. King Felix was pitching tonight. It is currently tied in the 7th. Hopefully they can go over .500…

Off to work...

So, I thought I was going to have to run just one errand today. Nope. I'm needed at Mrs. Fields. I'm not going to complain, though. Such is the way of business, things happen unexpectedly. It's only for a couple of hours, though. And it gets me out of the house. And I needed to shave anyway...

Goodnight everyone….

One last post before I retire tonight. Today was the first day in almost a month that I didn’t have to leave the house. No errands. No work. No interviews. I don’t have anything on the agenda tomorrow, but I am down to my last dose of insulin, so I will be calling upon the pharmacy of Wally World, and waiting for call-backs. Let’s see what tomorrow brings.

500 by 8….

The Mariners won today. Again. IIRC this is the 8th time this season that they’ve hit the .500 mark in the team record. But every time they hit the mark, they immediately lose. Maybe this time they can win some more. Because, it would be nice for them to make it to the post-season again. Since the last time they’ve gone to the playoffs, both the Seahawks and the Sounders FC have made it to the playoffs, and in fact they’ve won it all. Actually come to think of it, the Sounders FC have always been in the post-season. Every season since they’ve been in MLS… Now if only King Felix can stay healthy…..

A few days off….

I had to work Mrs Fields today. Not a big deal. With my pending job offer, I’m going to take some time off for a few days. At my previous job, I had a vacation scheduled in the middle of August, so I’m going to go ahead and take it now, as it will be a while before I accrue any time. When I was job searching, I had designated Tuesday as a day off specifically so I could rest (I did answer the phone when I got call-backs).

While I was job searching, I thought I could be more productive if I could do it out of the house. So I packed my laptop and headed out to Mrs. Fields (I know I can connect to the store’s Wi-Fi, and there are times when you need encouragement from the store’s owner). But usually happened is as soon as I got there and pulled my laptop out, I got put to work. Again, not a bad thing, as I had something to do.

But for now, I’m going to just chill for a couple of days. I have a feeling that this might be my last time I can veg for a while….

Things are looking up

THings are looking up on the job front. Interviewed at a couple of places, and a job offer was made. However, the potential employer does have a definite social media policy, and I’ve already been fired for my own stupidity more than enough times. So, let’s just leave it at that I have a job from now on….

Well, not yet, but I’m closer to employment than yesterday…

EDIT: I will disclose that my second job is at Mrs. Fields. As for my first job, however, let’s just have that I have a job suffice…

Day off got pulled out from under me

So, after getting fired two weeks ago, I do have a lot more free time than I used to. I am putting applications in left and right. I’ve put in some good applications this week, and so I was going to take today as a day off. And decided to bring my laptop up to Mrs. Fields so the store owner and I could Netflix and chill for a few. It didn’t happen that way. Long story short, I came in and got penciled in to work. I’m not complaining after all, I’m hourly. But everytime I bring my laptop in, I end up working….

On Mental Illness…

Mental Illness doesn’t care how much money or fame you have. You’re as sick as is if you had a physical illness, but there’s no out ward sign, so you end up stigmatized. With no apparent way to get help. But this is less about mental illness, and more about suicide. We lost Chris Cornell to it recently. He lost Kurt Cobain to it. And today we’ve the lead singer to Linkin Park. When the hurt and the pain get so bad that you feel your only option is to end it all. This is not right. The state of mental health care in America is a fucking joke. I can think of at least three recent mash shooting that could’ve been prevented if people had gotten the treatment that they needed. But no. While mental illness is just as real a diseases as pneumonia or measles, we still stigmatize it, and those who suffer from it. And that has to stop.

BTW, if you’re thinking about killing yourself, please call 1-800-273-8255. Help is out there. YOU’RE NOT ALONE!

About the unfortunate events last week….

Ok, I think it’s time to discuss the Unfortunate Events last week:

Basically, I lost my job. Not the second job at Mrs. Fields, but my primary job. My full time job. I’m not going to go into the details about it, but it is not a pleasant thing to be called into the office and told to go clean out your locker. I’m not going to mention my (now former) employer nor am I going to say anything bad about the company. Hubris only makes it worse.

I am pulling a few hours at Mrs. Fields, enough to pay the rent. And I have updated my resume to the cloud. And reactivated my profile on Snagajob and Monster. We’ll see how it goes…

A day off…

Still not going to say anything about last week’s unfortunate events. But my last honest, do nothing day off was June 30. That’s going to change. I’m taking tonight off. And tomorrow to. It’s been a stressful week. And I need the rest. I could tell this from the fight I gave my alarm this morning. I need to take care of myself, before I can take care of anything else. I know there are other times when this would not be the case, but the world is not going to end tomorrow, and if it did, I don’t think 1 person would make a difference….

Goodnight.

New Chair…

Christmas of 2001. My younger brother (current roommate) surpises me with a new computer desk and an office chair. No way near top of the line items, but they did the job (in fact, I still use the desk. This post is being written at it). The chair held up through the years. I took it apart when I moved out of Puyallup, and when I put it back together I didn’t put the armrests back on (they got in the way). But the chair continued to serve faithfully, holding my ass up during my misadventures on the internet. It worked through 4 towers, and 3 laptops. But it had lost its height. The air cylinder had lost it’s air. So, off to to the Worst Buy website and I ordered this one. And it is comfy. Headrest. Armrest. And I can lean back in it. I think I can now throw out the easy chair that I never really use anymore.

Having said that, I ordered it before last week’s Unfortunate Events. I wouldn’t dare order it now. Live and learn. I’m not ready to tell the tale of what happened last week. In due time, I will. But not now. Let’s just say that things are going to be a bit lean for a while…

EDIT: I can still use my easy chair. I just have to rotate my new chair around so I can watch my 55” TV. Which is good, since I can use my laptop in my easy chair…

Things are looking up…

Things are looking better than Thursday. But it is still best that I not discuss them at this point….

It hit the fan today.

I got some really bad news today. But it’s best if I don’t mention it here for the time being…

The end of the weekend….

I had the day off today. It wasn’t really a weekend for me, I’ve had split days off more often than not since I transferred to this location. But I’m not complaining about that. That’s just the nature of business. But today was my last day off this week. And I’m working 6 days straight until my next day off.

But on my day off today, I did call upon my other employer Mrs. Fields Cookies (The Commons at Federal Way), and I bought some cookies for my co-workers at my main job. The owner was there, and he was going to hook me up, but ethically, the right thing was to pay the regular price for them. Which I did.

I’d always said I’d bring them cookies. Now if I really liked them, I’ll tell them which ones I didn’t spike….

Further applications of lessons learned…

After the fiasco of attempting to order a 4 tB hard drive for my laptop last (and my subsequent application of my new 4 tB back-up drive), I ordered a new hard drive with the right size (I hope, since the new drive is 7mm, and apparently my current drive is 9mm). But it’s easier to fit a smaller drive than it is to fit a drive that is too large. We’ll see.

I did make a point to check with the manual before I ordered a ram upgrade. And this time, I know I got it right. Hopefully, they’ll both arrive at the same time. I’m going to have to remove close to 30 screws to get to the innards, so I’m going to do all this at once.

Size does matter……

So I ordered a new 4 tB hard drive for my laptop last week. It arrived today. Took my laptop apart. Installed new drive. And I couldn’t put the laptop back together. This was a 1/2” hard drive, and my laptop uses a 7mm hard drive. And the size does matter.

This was a very expensive lesson that I learned. I’m not going to return the 4 tB hard drive. It isn’t defective, and I’m not going to go through the hassle of returning it if it’s my fault for not checking the size first.

But on the bright side, my usb hard drive adapter also supports laptop hard drives. So I now have a 4 tB back-up drive.

And I did order a 7mm hard drive upgrade. Only a 2 tB drive, but it’ll be enough room.

Ordered a bunch more useless crap….

While perusing Newegg today, I finally pulled the trigger. I got a few things for the laptop:

• A 4 tB hard drive. Matches the one I have in the tower. This was if either computer fails, the other one will be able to fully stand in. And if it so be the tower, then I can use the laptop to replace it.
• A Blu-Ray burner. Laptop came with the HP SuperDrive (basically a DVD burner), but I now get Blu-Rays instead of DVDs. I’d like to watch them on the go…
• CyberLink Media Suite 14 Ultimate. I have it for the tower. Why not have it the laptop?

Once I get these in, the only thing that I won’t be able to do on my laptop that I can on the tower is watch TV. I can get a usb TV tuner, but I see no point in it. I have cable tv at home, and the laptop is supposed to be portable. Although since I have have X1, I can still stream my tv programming, too. And then there’s Hulu, and Netflix….

I ordered all these while at supposedly working at Mrs. Fields today. My boss was being very tolerant about the use of personal electronics on the job. But he also knows that when I calls me in, I lose a day off from my main employer, so he cuts me a little slack.

Speaking of which, my main job just tried to call me in tonight. I told him no. I’m going to keep the drama to myself for now, at least to see how it can be resolved. But I needed the day off today to cool off, figuratively.

We are currently in the high 80’s with a forecast of the 90’s for tomorrow. I think today was the first time in two years that the air conditioning got turned on at Mrs. Fields (owner doesn’t use it, he grew up in a really hot part of India, so he sees no need for it). And I’m in the living room with the air conditioner on. Rather than trying to cool the entire apartment, I’m just working on keeping the living room cool. When the heat of the day passes, I’ll be able to retire to me room, and when the sun sets, I can use the window fan.

It’s another day off….

At my previous work location, in recognition of the nightmare that my commute was, I had a set schedule. As in carved in stone 7-3:30 Tuesday through Thursday & 6-2:30 Friday and Saturday. Then my employer made something similar to every full-time employee. I didn’t have the set days of the week, but I still opened, and I was still full-time. WHen I transfered down here, I was moved from opening to closing, but I was still full-time. I don’t have the same days off as my last location. But today was a day off. And I spent it doing absolutely nothing. Aside from watching the Mariners on my now paid off 55” TV…

For someone who knows the truth about The New World Order (Mond-Control Divison), I seem to be watching a lot of baseball. Maybe it’s time I got another hat…

Lesson learned the hard way today….

Ok, I figured out how to install Windows 8.1 on my tower. It’s actually not that hard, since it’s what my tower came with when I bought it. It’s simple. Just use the system restore set (first thing I did was burn the recovery DVD set). Then I uninstall all the bloatware. But before I install the drivers, I have to install updates. Over 200 of them. But once I got Windows patched, I was able to install all my drivers (including the troublesome video driver) without having any issues with the Blue Screen of Death. I’m going to try to make this a permanent switch. There are a number of reasons why, and there are also reasons why to use Windows 10 and Windows 7 as well. But basically it boils down to I like the way Windows 8.1 renders the windows’ borders vs. 10. Nothing will beat the Windows 7 Aero interface, but the end of support is drawing near.

And there’s also the chance to work with Linux in it again.

Took a sick day today….

After an ibuprofen and two cups of coffee, the headache still wouldn’t relent. Since I had accrued enough sick time, I simply called the day manager this morning. It’s going to happen, at least my employer’s sick/attendance policies are clear enough on this. And thank The Flying Spaghetti Monster for paid sick leave.

Payday was Friday. And most of my money is already gone. But all my bills were paid on time. I may actually pay my laptop off completely during the finance period…

And the frustration continues….

Why do I keep deciding to wipe my tower? When will I realize that I should leave well enough alone? But there are a couple of things I’ve learned the past two days:

• Norton is still as buggy as ever. As I was reinstalling drivers and themes, I inserted the USB flash drive that had my fonts, cursors, and themes, and Norton immediately started flagging my font files as virii. So, even though I get it for free from Comcast, it is still a pain in the ass. It’s back to Microsoft Security Essentials. It works. Though I also have gotten virii running Windows 10 with Windows Defender. It’s more about practicing safe hex than what AV you’re running….
• And the other thing I’ve learned is that my SD card slot on my tower is supported natively by the operating system. No more searching for and trying to install the supposed drivers.

This time, I’m going to apply the lessons I’ve learned from my previous misadventures. But I am going to take my time with this. After all, the only thing that I can’t do on my laptop that I can do on the tower is play Flight Simulator and run my virtual machines…

Yet another day off….

Yes, it’s my day off. They say it’s going to be a bit warm today, so I’ve got the AC on the living room. With my laptop. After yesterday’s fiasco trying to get Windows 8.1 on the tower, I now have to rebuild it, and once again I’m going back to what I know works. But, instead of Microsoft Security Essentials for internet security, I went with something different. One of the features of Comcast internet is a free copy of Norton Internet Security. I remember this. This is what my first computer had when I got it. As I upgraded, I also tried upgrading that, and I think 2/3s of all my Windows ME meltdowns were directly caused by it. So, of course I figured what the heck. I installed in on my tower. And it’s there. I see no difference so far between it and MSE. But if it works and does my system no harm, then it’ll stay.

Both laptops in the house run Windows 10, and therefore run Windows Defender. There’ll be no change there…

An exercise in futility….

Tried Windows 8.1 this morning, thinking I had figured what my issues were. It wasn’t the case. I tried everything but I couldn’t get the system to not bluescreen when I attempted to install the current display driver from AMD on my tower. It’s only with Windows 8.1. I have no problems installing the current drivers in Windows 7 or Windows 10. So, I’m at the point where I really can’t use the OS that came with the computer when I bought it.

Though, on the bright side, I did upgrade it to Windows 8.1 Pro right before Windows 10 came out, and I used that to upgrade to Windows 10 Pro. So, I think I’ll go with Windows 10 Pro for now….

It’s been one year….

It’s been one year since I went to Mom’s apartment and found her. Yes, I called 911, and the fire department responded in 3 minutes, but she was already gone when I got there. It still hurts today. Losing loved ones is never easy. But that is a part of life. People come into your life. And people go. Sometimes the best you can do is keep a stiff upper lip and appreciate those around you while they’re still here.

Readers, drop what you’re doing right now, and tell your loved ones that you love them.

Maybe Barbara Bryant spend all eternity frolicking in The Beer Volcano and The Stripper Factory.

Fudge it!

All that effort into attempting to install Windows 8.1. And it bluescreens when I attempt to install the graphics driver. Definite no-go for me. Back to what I was running before. At least with the laptop, I still have a working computer.

Underway on the Creators Update

It took a half dozen tries. And all my mobile data. But my laptop is now running Windows 10 Creators Update. And I brought the BIOS up to date. The Bios is a funny thing. I’ve just had to update it on my laptop for a Windows 10 update. I’ve never had to update it on my current tower. My previous tower was updated once. And my I never flashed it on my Gateway.

But we’re running the Latest and Greatest from Microsoft. And the laptop is still running….

Well, this bites….

Wouldn’t you figure it. Microsoft decided that when I was on a metered connection would be the best time to push the Creators Update to my laptop. But on the bright side I did figure out how connect it to the store Wi-Fi. But that was also when I got busy with work (I mean Mrs. Fields is a fun place, but it also work, and customers have to be taken care of).

On the bright side. I’m underway on Wi-Fi here.

It was my day off (past tense)

What can I say? I’m a glutton for punishment. I had to run some errands and I stopped by Mrs. Fields. Big mistake. Now I’m here working now. Oh well. At least I got my errands runs (ended getting a memory card from Worst Buy). Actually, he had asked me on Wednesday if I’d come in and I said yes. But there is a bright side to being penciled in at Mrs. Fields on your day off. There are the cookies (within strict limits, as I am trying to bring my blood sugars back under control). And I’m out of the house, too. And with my usb modem from Sprint, I can even blog about working at Mrs. Fields on my day off while working at Mrs. Fields on my day off….

So, I’m watching a little bit of a baseball game tonight…

Yes, I’m admitting to watching The New World Order (Mind-Control Division), tonight. Specifically the Mariners game. And I’m not even wearing my Aluminum Foil Deflector Beanie, either. I’m watching the game as a bit of celebration. I bought my Vizio TV a year ago, on a purchase plan that took $36 and change out of each paycheck. And this past payday, I paid it off. All 55 inches of it.

So, for the duration of game, Elvis is dead and Belgium really exists. And those are not really Black Helicopters….

I’ve just done something I’ve never done before

Laptops are essentially non-upgradeable. True, you can upgrade the RAM and/or the hard-drive. And you can replace the DVD, if applicable. But mainly, it is a single unit. You get what you get. So, aside from the standard usb mouse, I’ve never bought any add-on. Not anymore. The longest I’ve had a laptop was 18 months. I want this one to last at least as long as the contract for my usb modem. So last night, I ordered an extra battery and power cord for it. I figure those 2 are the first to go, and I can one cord in my backpack (which I also replaced just for this laptop), and keep one at home.

I’m going to make it last….

To all those who are fasting for the next month or so…

I have Muslim friends. Generally, I don’t approach the subject of religion with them (it’s really none of my business). But still, if you’re fasting for the next month or so, I wish you Ramadan Mubarak.

Once again, I have use poor judgement….

But it’s not as bad as it’s been. Yes, I got a laptop a couple of weeks ago. And I’m finding it to be pretty useful. Especially now that the heat of the summer is here, I can be out in the AC’ed living room rather than on the tower in my room.

I’ve been thinking about getting a tablet. I used to have one. In fact, I still have it. It’s in my junk drawer. After I paid off the contract through Sprint, I finally cancelled service on it (it was actually the last item that I got on contract). And I thought about getting another one. I took a look at Sprint’s selection. And it sucks. Of course they have their collection of iPads and Galaxys. I will never go near an iPad. And really, if I need a tablet, my phone already does it better with a slightly smaller screen. I decided I needed something for the laptop. So I can take it places and not worry about finding wi-fi.

So today I ordered a USB modem with a data plan. For those situations where I don’t want to use wi-fi, and I need to access the internet.

I guess the use of poor judgement comes not from ordering this, but from going back to a company that has repeatedly demonstrated that they don’t give a damn about customers. Maybe some day I’ll tell you about my troubles in having the phone activated, and the fact that I was flat out told to drop dead when I went to the local sprint store to enquire about them. Then there’s the overseas call center (not that it’s a specific problem, it’s just when the accent is too thick for me to understand, and they’re just reading off a script rather than actually doing something). But Verizon is too expensive, and T-Mobile is persona non grata….

The other item on my agenda today…

There is one more item on my agenda on the agenda today on my glorius day off (after all, what day off is not glorious?). And that’s to watch some Jimmy Bond. Specifically from 1973 to 1985. I mourn the passing of Sir Roger Moore….

All of the actors who’ve played James Bonds have been masters of their craft. But Roger Moore was a first among equals. The Beer Volcano and Stripper Factory will be serving vodka martinis, shaken not stirred tonight. He will be missed…

It’s a heating up day off today.

IIRC, we hit the 80’s yesterday, temperature wise. Hot enough that I put in my window fan in my room for the season. With the schedule I have at work, that is sufficient. I’m at work during the heat of the day, and when I come home, I can turn the fan on and cool my room.

Some of you may remember my mother passing last year. And it was decided that I should get her air conditioner. It worked. But it was noisy and big. My room was cool, but that’s all I could say. I couldn’t sleep with it on. SO, during my vacation last summer, I moved it out to the living room. And then tried to cool the entire apartment. I’ve set it again this year. Once again relocating it, and I’m just going to concentrate on keeping the living room cool. Why not. I’ve got a laptop. My brother has a laptop. The Wi-Fi covers out there. I’ll just have to spend my summer putting up with my brother. How bad can that be?

Finished one, now almost another….

Last night, I finished installing all my crap to my laptop. And tonight, I will have finished installing everything in the Tower…

EDIT: All done with the tower now. I might install Flight Simulator 2004 on my laptop later. But then again, my flight sims should probably remain just tower apps for now. Though I do have all my Steam, Origin, and Gog games installed on both devices…

According to UPS my Levemir prescription should be arriving tomorrow. My new blood sugar meter should be arriving next week. Having diabetes sucks, but having my prescriptions will make it suck less. I have to admit, I’ve been off my Levemir since last fall, it does show on my A1C results. Sometimes, you have to admit that drugs are good….

Day Off #2

So, yesterday, I ran errands and took a nap. That was my day. And I finished installing all my crap on my laptop. And late last night, I found out that my Bluetooth didn’t want to pair at all with anything. Not necessarily a deal breaker, though I would’ve thought twice before buying it had I known about it to begin with. But it’s easier to live with it than it would be to return the laptop. Besides everything else works. And if I need to transfer files, I’ve got a shit-load of thumbdrives, and I’ve set up the LAN so I can network between my tower and my laptop.

Now that I’ve finished moving into the laptop, today’s agenda will be continue working on the tower (I wiped it right after I ordered the laptop). I was going to go out to Bremerton today to visit a friend, but a toothache from Hell is keeping me home while I self-medicate it with Earl Grey. I don’t anticipate missing any work from it due to the already scheduled days off. But it is annoying. I then thought about going up to Federal Way to wish a friend a happy birthday. Then I overslept and looked at the Bus schedule, and I decided to stay home and do laundry today.

All moved in….

Finished installing all the software on my laptop. I didn’t install everything. I only have a 1 terabyte HD at this time, and I’m not going to upgrade it just yet (remember the average life of my laptops are about a year or so. True, I have my mother’s old laptop, but that is more for my brother’s use. In fact, I have explicitly told him that that laptop is his now). But I have enough installed on this laptop that I can perform most common tasks. I even installed some of my games. Though I won’t be installed any of my virtual machines or my flight simulators on my laptop. There just isn't enough room yet.

I do see myself doing most of my blogging from my laptop. Mainly because since it runs Windows 10, it has spell-checking.

Day off today...

Worked 5 days straight ,now is time for my weekend. On my last day off, I called upon Famous Footwear, and bought a couple of pairs of shoes. I got a pair of Wolverines and a pair of Sketchers. Spent the last week breaking in the Wolverines, and today, I'm breaking in the Sketchers. Would've bought the Columbia's again, but they were out of my size.

I'm getting a new blood sugar meter. Would've gotten it sooner, but we're not going into that. Ordered my levemir prescription today, abs I'm picking up my novolin (for cost reasons, I switched to novolin by the vial rather than the Novolog pen. Btw, novolin is still cheaper OTC than it is on my insurance).

Today's agenda, walk around the mall and break in my new shoes.

Another note about my new laptop….

Apparently 5 years ago today or thereabouts is when I bought my last laptop from my boss. And it was a HP laptop, too. And it replaced a HP laptop, as well.

I think I might be partial to them…

Hello World!

Ok, I know it’s been a while since I wrote here. My new laptop arrived last week, and I’m still ‘moving in’ to it. Tonight, I finished installing all of my themes, and I installed Firefox last night. There’s something to be said about surfing the internet from your easy chair rather than at the desk. THe laptop will not be a replacement for the Tower, but a compliment. And a back-up, too, if the tower fails (remember the power supply blew in January).

And in my lap, my 17.3 inch laptop is about the same size as my 55 inch tv….

Vacation: Day 7 Report. The Last Day

I return to work tomorrow. Today was the last day of my vacation. Which means I have to go back to work tomorrow. Today, I took a day trip to Federal Way. I mainly wnet up there to depost my brother’s rent money (the Twinstar Credit Union right by my apartment no longer offers shared branching, so I have to go to an actual BECU location). And I figured if I’m going to have to take the bus, I might as well make a trip out of it. Anyway after depositing the rent money, I went to Worst Buy and started looking for a Sprint usb modem (for my laptop). Decided I don’t need the $50.00 extra on my phone bill (you may remember my experiences with Sprint last month)…

On my vacation this week, I:

• Was only penciled in once at Mrs. Fields. That couldn’t be avoided, there was a funeral in Canada, and you really can’t pick when your relatives are going into the Great Beyond.
• Fixed two laptops at Grandma’s house. Went up there originally just to vist with my Grandmother, and this is something I need to do more often.
• Went up north and saw a friend that I haven’t seen in years. I also discovered that the Westlake Center Food Court is gone. I used to manage the Mrs. Fields there (like 1999-2002). That was actually the first job that I had health insurance through. I was let go the day after I found out I was diabetic. If I knew then what I know now about the ADA, I would’ve taken the franchise owners to the cleaners. But this is a side note and is worthy of a separate entry in and of itself later.
• Ordered a new laptop.
• Realized that if you’re sending a letter priority mail, the post office will give you the envelope for free. You can save yourself the $2.00 at Walgreens. And I mailed prescriptions off.
• Bought 300, 300: Rise of an Empire, and The Princess Bride on Blu-Ray. I had previously had all 3 of these on DVD, but since I have a Blu-Ray player for my 55” TV, why not get them on Blu-Ray?

For my vacation, I intended to stay home and sit on my ass. But I had to get up and move. Even if it was to the store for some Chinese take-out. But it was a week without the stresses of work, and though I really don’t want to, I think I’m ready to go back to work tomorrow.

But I really don’t want to…

Had a Burrito today.

It’s Cinco de Mayo. I don’t celebrate it. It’s not even the Mexican Independence Day (that would be the Grito de Dolores, in September). In America, it’s an occaision to drink Margaritas and Coronas. Which I don’t miss (I quit drinking over 3 years ago). It’s Friday. Not Tuesday, so no Tacos today (though I never really followed Taco Tuesday either. But I wanted some Mexican today. So I had a burrito at lunch.

Cinco de Mayo commemorates a Mexican victory in a war with the French that they eventually lost. It wouldn’t have happened at all were it not for the Civil War (think Monroe Doctorine). It wasn’t Mexican Independence (Mexico had long been independent). It was also during this war that another battle took place that is significant to the French Foreign Legion. One war, two diffferent sides…

Vacation Day 6 report

Currently watching Star Wars. Mailed my prescriptions off (with my prescription drug coverage, I get the lowest price with mail-order services). Survived the thunderstorms that came through today. And it was so warm today that I had to put my window fan in. Had some teriyaki for lunch, and they forgot the gyoza (I got take-out). NOrmally I would scream bloody murder and end up telling them to go f*ck off, and never shop there again, but this time it was different. By the time I realized it, it was too late for me to do anything, so I just ate my teriyaki. And then I realized that with what I paid for it (including the tip), I could get the exact same order from another place even cheaper.

Tomorrow is the last day of my vacation. Unfortunately, it is also pay the rent day. So I will be making a trip to the credit union to deposit my brother’s rent money. But I think I can squeeze in a day trip, too.

Anyway, goodnight…

Vacation Day 6

Yesterday I decided to wipe my computer again and try things a different way. Today's, only plans were to head out to the party office and mail my prescriptions in. I was going to Blu-ray Star Wars, but with the thunderstorms leading through, I dint want to find out how good my surge protectors are...

The Schwartz Awakens again

It's May 4th. Star Wars day. If you're watching the Mythbusters Star Wars Special, yes that was actually Lord Dark Helmet's helmet that Jamie was wearing...

I think it's time to fire up the Blu-Ray...

Vacation Day 5 report

Took a day trip up north today. Reconnected with a couple of friends. Wished a few others well. Realized that the foodcourt in the Westlake Center is gone. And I came home early to avoid most of the traffic. I think I'll do it again soon. But tomorrow will be stay home and run a couple of errands.

Vacation Day 4 report:

Laundry is currently in the dryer. Would’ve done it sooner, but Phil was doing his, and first come, first served. Reinstalled my games from GOG and Origin, and I’m currently reinstalling my Steam games. Tomorrow will be another day trip, destination unknown…

Vacation Day 4 Update

Brother needed a 3-pack of Timecop on VHS. So off to Wally World. Actually I needed insulin so it was off to get another vial of NovolinR (last year my dr. had me on Novolog, and I was on Humalog before then, but NovolinR is OTC, and it cheaper than the other two even after insurance). Bought a couple of items from the deli. Oh, and I ordered a new laptop, too. Tonight’s docket includes doing laundry and watching a Seattle Mariners game. But most importantly, just sitting on my ass doing nothing…

And now my vacation’s Poor Judgement….

I was at Grandma’s House yesterday, fixing Mother’s Father’s laptop. It was a pretty good laptop. HP 17.3”, 1 tB hard drive, relatively recent Intel Processor. I was so impressed with it that I just ordered my own. It’s slightly different. It has an AMD processor. The other laptop will be Phil’s exclusively from now on. For those who are wondering, it’s a HP Pavilion 17-g223cy Laptop. Specs are:

• AMD A10-8700P Processor.
• 17.3” Display with a touchscreen.
• 1  tb hard Drive.
• 8 gb RAM (not that much, considering how my tower runs 24 gb. Then again, my tower came with 8, and it ran pretty well…)
• And the standard DVD Burner…

Mainly the standard, run of the mill bells and whistles that are typical of HP laptops. This will come in handy as a back-up in case the tower goes down. Also, it’ll come in handy when I get called out to fix computers and/or mobile devices.

May this last longer than the other HP laptops I’ve had…

Vacation Day 3 Report

Installed Cygwin on my Tower. Actually I just got up, turned the computer on and let the installer run. Then I jumped on the bus and went to Grandma’s house. Spent most of the day there in Dad’s room, fixing his computer. He has a really old Windows Vista laptop that has a couple of really old programs that won’t run on anything more recent. Cleaned it up the best I could, and told him to use the other laptop. This was Mother’s old laptop before she passed away. The main issue was recovering her Facebook password, but I found it. Then I pulled out my usb 3.0 thumb drive that I bought for him last December and finally made a system restore drive for him. Then I wiped the laptop. And it took over 4 hours for it to format the drive and reinstall Windows 10. But I did add him as a user on my Office 365 account (I can install it on up to 5 computers, and I’m only using on my laptop and my tower).

And that was my vacation day. Tomorrow is Laundry Day, and I need to run to Wally World….

May Day...

It's May Day today. And I'm stool on vacation. So today, I'm going to visit Grandma and Dad. Applying the lessons I learned the last time I went out there, this time I have a supply of sugar on me. Though I don't think I'll be passing out her living room couch again.

What I did on the second day of my vacation today….

Today, I did (in no particular order):

• Worked on installing software on my computer (I wiped and installed the Creators Update last night), which includes: Nero, Cyberlink, Visual Studio Community, Office 365, etc. And there were patches, plugins and updates to go with them. Over 16 gigabytes downloaded today…
• Watched some NASCAR.
• Watched some hockey.
• I did leave the house today. I did have to schlep over to the grocery store to get some Chinese takeout.
• Solved an issue that I was having with certain themes not showing up in the personalization applet (the Creators Update of Windows 10 manages themes differently). What I did was I made a folder in the My Documents folder, and I copied shortcuts to all my .theme files into it.

Tomorrow will bring a trip out to Ollala to visit with my dad and my grandmother. And maybe some laundry…

So, 100 Hundred Days are in…

And Donald Trump sucks as President. I did not vote for him. I held my tongue since the election to give him a chance. I decided that my desk at work would be non-partisan so it wouldn’t be a distraction. But he is even worse than Dubya.

• He has tried to dismantle Obamacare. Not that this in an of itself is a bad thing. But in doing so, millions would be cut off from health care. This normally wouldn’t affect me since I now have health insurance through my employer, but there was a time when I was without it. If this is the greatest country in the world, then we have a fundamental obligation to take care of our people.
• His idea for tax reform is tax cuts for the rich. Trickle down economics, it is called. Historically, it has never worked. The deficit will soar and economy will tank. And the working poor will be stuck with the bill.
• His immigration policies are bordering on racist. His idea for securing the border with Mexico is a wall. And the dumbshit thinks he can make Mexico pay for it. And there are his executive orders which are targeting Muslims (fortunately they have been stuck down by the courts). Then there are the outright racists on his staff. There are no differences between white nationalist, white supremacists, and racists.
• He has colluded with America’s enemies. Russia may not be America’s enemy, but they are not our friends either. The FBI (who pretty much violated the Hatch with that last minute announcement that were still investigating Hilary) has announced that there is a counter-intelligence investigation for alleged collusion between his campaign and Russia.
• He has refused to release his tax returns. What is he hiding? Every candidate has publicly disclosed their tax returns. I understand the average taxpayer has a right to privacy, but if you want to be the most powerful person in the world, you have to hold to a higher standard.
• Conflict of interests galore. Which we have to pay for. Where does he host visiting world leaders? At his Mar-A-Lago resort. At the taxpayer’s expense. Then there is his daughter in the White House, and him tweeting to buy her merchandise.

This post will never be a Pulitzer Prize winning piece of journalism. It is not intended to be. America is still a great nation. We still have a Constitution and a Bill Of Rights to guarantee our Freedoms (like the right to free speech being exercised here). And a system of checks and balances between the various branches of the government. Donald Trump in the White House is not the end of the world. But the world is still pretty fucked up…

Creators Update is out…

So the Windows 10 creators update is out. My computer was running perfectly on what is was running before, so of course I decided to test it out. Installation was straightforward, similar to the Anniversary Update. The one difference this time around was the initial configuration page, which featured Cortana, which I turned off.

Overall, it is still Windows 10. The Windows 10 themes are now in the Windows Store. Though most of the themes that I use and have backed up will still work. Some won’t, but they were written for Windows XP (it will take some work to adapt them for Win10, but the wallpapers at least should be available).

Overall, it is still Windows 10. It is not Windows 7, which will be a stumbling block. I miss the Windows Classic themes. There are work-arounds available, but they’re just not the same. But then again, this is the cutting edge form Microsoft. And I can Netflix and Hulu from my tower….

Vacation: Day 2

Aside form turning on the computer and my morning coffee, absolutely nothing is planned. Maybe a trip out of the house for some pizza or to Jack (ing off) in the Box later on for some victuals….

Vacation: Day 1

Ended up not working 8 days in a row. Had an early morning Dr.'s appointment on Monday morning after working Sunday night. And I was scheduled to work Monday night, too. While I was at the Dr.'s office, my prescriptions were adjusted, and I had to go parley with the pharmacist about them. On my way from the Dr. to the pharmacy, I realized that I might not make it work. I had enough sick/personal time to cover my shift, so I called out Monday. In hindsight, I could've made it, but 7 am to 10:30 at night is something that I'm going to avoid at all costs.

So Friday was supposed to be my last day of work,a nd today was supposed to be the start of my vacation. But I ended up being penciled in at Mrs. Fields this morning. Something about a funeral in Canada... But that's all done, and I still have 6 days straight off, doing absolutely nothing. Though a day trip to Ollala to visit Grandma is in the planning phase for next week....

7 minutes to go….

Seven minutes before I leave the house to go to work. 7 minutes before my 8 day in-a-row work week begins. 7 minutes to go before my 8 day work week to preface my 7 day vacation.

Now make it 6 minutes….

The end of another weekend....

Laundry has been done. Errands have been run. My weekend is over, abs I go back to work tomorrow. For 8 days straight. But there is a light at the end of the tunnel. And that's my vacation. A whole week off. Wasn't the way I planned it, but I'm not going to look a gift horse in the mouth....

Goodnight, people.

Happiness is…

Happiness is a 13+ minute phone call with your Grandmother. I highly reccommend it.

Today is the second day of my ‘weekend’. Then it’s working for 8 days straight. Then I get 7 days’ vacation. I think a trip to Ollala is in order to visit Grandma.

Finished reinstalling all my software on my computer today. The next time I decide to try Windows 8.1, remind me how much I hate it, and the next time I decide to play around with my computer, remind me how much of a pain in the ass it’ll be to put it back together…

So, it’s Easter today…

It was also my day off. $day-job was open today, but with a reduced schedule. I have no ego. If I need the specific day off, I’ll request it beforehand. Otherwise, if I’m scheduled I’ll just show up and work my 8 hours. At my previous location there was a concerted effort to make sure that my schedule was steady (and for almost a year, it was carved-in-stone fixed) in recognition of my Commute From Hell. But that went out the window when I transferred. But hey, when work is only a 20 minute walk you really need not worry about scheduling as much….

Today is Easter:

Now why would you think that I would not post the Holy Hand Grenade Scene? Anyway, being a diabetic, this is my answer to the Easter Bunny: Sacred Relics…

Updated the software on my phone. Ended flashing the ROM 4+ times before I realized that Googling it would help, and I was a simple setting that I needed to toggle. Anyway, My HTC 10 is running the latest Nougat ROM from Team Venom. Marshmallow was taken off for good. I am noticing that there were about 10 or so apps that I bought from the Spamazon Appstore that weren’t available yet. Copied them over from the HTC One M8, and attempted to sideload them. I got them installed, but they won’t work. I guess I just wait for update. Maybe some day, I’ll post about the the nightmare it was to acquire and activate the phone. I won’t be taking this up with Sprint anymore. Too many excuses, too much DoubleSpeak, and an offshore call center. They’re even worse than Comcast. At least when you escalate to social media on Comcast, they have their shit together. Not Sprint.

Made all my credit card payments yesterday. And I still have money left over….

Anyway, I gotta go. Day off is ending shortly, and I still have to binge-watch American Dad on Netflix…

New phone arrived today…

I thought I was past the frustrations from trying to upgrade my phone last week (balky websites & and agents who didn’t give a damn). I went through Worst Buy to order it, and unfortunately for Sprint, Best Buy was the only party involved who had their shit together….

So the phone arrived today at 1:30 in the afternoon. I put the memory card in, powered the phone on, and nothing happend. I was able to logon to my Wi-Fi, but the phone wouldn’t activate. I went to the Sprint website, and the website was ‘down for maintenence’. All day. Sprint support was really no help. Even the executive team told me to call them, which I couldn’t since I didn’t have access to a phone. And they told me to go chat with an agent, but abain the website redirected to the site maintenence. WIth all the issues I’ve had trying to get the phone, and actviate it, I’m seriously thinking that Sprint is doing this deliberately.

But nevertheless I got my HTC 10 and I got it activated. I had previously downloaded and prepared Marshmallow and Nougat ROMs for my phone. So I went and put some Sunshine on it. And once I was S-off, I flashed TWRP, and then I installed the Nougat ROM (I had previously dabbled with the Marshmallow ROM on the HTC One M8, and that ROM was based on the ROM for this phone, so I went with the new ROM). I’m still in the process of moving in, but I’m impressed with it so far. For the first time I have a working Andriod Pay (something I’ve never had due to issues with my phone being rooted), were it not for my cards not working with it, but that’s life. I will miss the IR blaster, so I guess that means I need to not lose the remote. The camera looks good, too. But we’ll save for another post. Work calls tomorrow….

Well, after last week’s fiasco.

After the fiasco last week, I was not amused. Probably I shouldn’t have asked for the head of the Sprint agent in Puyallup, but in an of itself trying to place the order was an epic fail on the part of Sprint. I would’ve cancelled my account on the spot were it not for the fact that we’re leasing my brother’s iPhone, and I’d be on the hook for remaining payments. So I was stuck with Sprint, and my phone was showing its age. But fortunately, Worst Buy is a Sprint reseller. And I was able to order an HTC 10. They didn’t have one in store, but they were available on line, and I was able to do in 10 minutes on bestbuy.com on my HTC One M8 what I couldn’t do for the life of me on Sprint.com on my computer.

So, fast forward to today. UPS has my phone, and it is out for delivery. I’ve already downloaded the Marshmallow and Nougat ROMs from Team Venom (I’ve been using their ROMs ever since my HTC One M7), and copied them to my memory card. And I also have everything ready to s-off and root my phone….

An open email to Sprint:

I just sent to this to Sprint. I had been attempting to upgrade, and it didn’t end well:

<Quote>

My account number is: xxxxxxxxx. This is in regards to my phone number: (253) xxx-xxxx. I recently paid off the phone, and decided it's time to upgrade to the HTC 10.

Lately, Ive been unable to login throught the Sprint Zone app. I always get an invalid password error. And God help me if I try to login online. If I try to logon through Firefox, it just keeps bouncing back to the logon page. If I logon through Google Chrome, I can get the validation text sent to me, but when I enter it, the page just displays a bunch javascript, and I don't logon.
But Friday I was able to finally log on, and I attempted three times to order the phone upgrade. Two times, when I went to pay for it, it was displayed that my newer debit card would be charged, but it came back with a 'declined', and then I get a text that the charge was made to my other card (an entirely different card number)! You were telling me you were charging one card but actually attempting to charge the other!

But I finally got that straightened out and I placed my online order (#ow-srso-xxxxxxxxx) to be picked up in Puyallup at 4227 S Meridian Ste B Meridian Plaza Shopping Center, Puyallup WA 98373. I got there early, and I was not impressed. One employee at the counter who was more interested in having a personal conversation with the two women (family members?) than he was about helping the three other people in the store, one of whom had an appointment, and the other two I overheard talking about buying three phones. At this time any sales droid capable of rubbing two neurons together would realize that that's the time to start doing your job. Not this person. I finally get up to the person, told him that I had an appointment to pick up my upgrade (I was early, but he wasn't helping anybody else either...). He then told me that he was shorthanded, and it was take at least 20 minutes. One of the ladies he was talking with when I came up then chimed in saying it would take more than 20 and snickered. That's when I walked out. Without my phone. He called after me, but if he isn't going to do his job to begin with, then he's not going to do it at all.

So I then called customer service. I jumped through all the hoops. Only to get an agent whose accent was sufficiently thick enough that I knew that I had reached an offshore call center. I hung up.

So, what needs to happen is:
1. Order #ow-srso-xxxxxxxxx needs to be cancelled forthright. And I need the $61.00 I paid Friday to start it refunded.
2. Your website needs to fixed so that I can login without repeated attempts.
3. Whoever was working at the Puyallup store at 11:15 this morning (4-2-2017) needs to be fired, and you need to publicly acknowledge this. Ignoring customers is never acceptable.

Then, I need an explanation as why this was all allowed to happen. Why am I being treated like garbage at every turn? Why is it so impossible to logon? Why is it so difficult to order an upgrade? And more importantly WHY DID I HAVE TO LEAVE THE SPRINT STORE WITHOUT MY ORDERED UPGRADE? But failing that, just tell me what obligations (ie contract, leases) I have left on my account and what I need to do to fulfill them and move to another carrier. Unlike you, I follow through on my promises.

<\Quote>

I’ve already gotten an acknowledgement back from the VP of customer service, but if it take that kind of escalation to get a human operator who know his/her shit then the battle has already been lost…

So my work schedule was posted today…

And I noticed a change upcoming. Not going into to much details now, as I don’t want to count my chickens until they’ve hatched. But the future is looking bright. Bright enough that I have to look for the sunglasses…

Like I said, I’m not going into details for the sake of discrestion. Unlike my second job at Mrs. Fields, I prefer to keep my primary employer and my position off the blog for now….

For the first time…

For the first time since I bought my computer, I’ve completely ‘moved in’ to it on Windows 8.1. Meaning I’ve installed all of my apps. Including my flight simulators. Previous attempts had ended when I installed Chome, and then decided that I wanted to go a different way. I could’ve gone with Windows 10, but I have problems with Microsoft and their privacy practices. I don’t need any more ads when I’m using my computer (in fact the fist thing I do when I reinstall my OS is to add the HOSTS file from MVPS.org.

About a month and half ago, I replaced my Lexmark printer. I had stopped using it, though it was on the Wi-Fi, so I kept the drivers installed. Eventually the ink dried out, and it was time to replace it. So I decided to get a laser printer. I got myself a Brother from Worst Buy. Yes, I’m replacing a multifunction printer with just a printer, but it’s a color laser printer, and it can print both sides. As for a scanner, I still have my HP multifunction printer, which I got from Mother (may she spend all eternity in The Beer Volcano and The Stripper Factory) when she couldn’t figure out how to replace the ink.

I upgraded my speakers a few week ago. Permanently retired my Boston Acoustics and my Insignia speakers, and got something with a subwoofer. Though I keep the volume turned way down, out of respect to the neighbours downstairs….

Lesson learned...

System Restore can be your best friend. But if you're going from Windows 8.1 to Windows 8.1 Pro with Media Center, then prepare to have your system restore points wiped.

But I survived. And when I got back to the desktop, I created another point. I don't know what the issue is. I made sure my network/wifi driver was up to date. I'm not going with the current video driver (I went with a WHQL certified driver rather than a cutting edge one like I'd normally do). But we'll see. Personally, I think it's a recent driver issue...

BTW, I used Windows 10 for precisely 4 hours, and most of that was just downloading Windows 8.1 drivers...

Awe, screw it

I never thought it possible. My computer hates Windows 8.1. I guess it's time to bite the bullet and put Windows 10 back on. Good thing I took Microsoft up on that offer when it was a free upgrade, and I made an installer drive...

Lesson Learned For The Third Time

Ok, installing Win8.1 on my tower again. Pull out my DVD restore set (that I made when I first got my computer), and let it run. Then afterwards, I put my separately purchased Win8.1 Pro key, and make that upgrade. No Problem. Then I go in and remove all the bloatware (basically anything McCafee, WildTangent, or anything else I don't recognize). And I took the wrong thing off, resulting in an unbootable tower. Repeat same procedure again, and get the same result. This third time, I've realize which piece of bloatware is the one that I need to leave alone. I'm not going to concern myself with it calling home, as the first thing I do beofre anything else is to protect my system with the HOSTS file at MVPS.org. But so far no more problems. In fact the new WiFi card I put in last month works natively in Windows 8.1. A definite plus...

Here we go again, yet another time

Right now, I'm putting Windows 8.1 back on my tower. For only one reason: Linux... If I can get the bootloaders to play now with each other, then I'll use OpenSuSE as my daily driver.

Yes, I'm just a glutton for punishment...

Edit: It looks like all this trouble is due to a bad video driver. Currently in downloading the previous driver. Will see how this goes.

Lesson Learned….

The Windows configuration that I have now isn’t really compatible with dual-booting with Linux. Maybe when the Creator’s Update of Win10 hits, I’ll give it another shot.

Live and Learn…

Here we go again...

Trying to put Linux on my computer. I'm going with OpenSuSE 42.2. In passing this from my phone, as it's still downloading. So far, I can tell that my network card is compatible (as it connected to my WiFi to access the repository). I don't anticipate any issues, but I have updated my external backup drive just in case.

And yes, I have to work tomorrow....

It’s Friday today…

A couple of years ago, I post on Facebook that I wasn’t Irish. A cousin rebutted me on that. But while I may have some blarney in the branches of my family tree, I do not identify as being Irish. And I’m not Catholic. And I quit drinking over 3 years ago. So, on this St. Patrick’s Day, I bid you a happy Friday…

America is still great….

Right after the election, I took a vow to keep all my postings non-partisan untill 100 days after the innauguration. This includes this blog. So while much is being said about who did what, or what new law is being or what old law is being repealed, I will hold my peace. Not out of agreement or disagreement, but because irregardless of my political views, and/or whatever political differences we may have, I still want to withhold judgement until he’s had a chance to prove himself. To take that first step, so to speak.

Having said that I will say that wanting Donald Trump to fail is like wanting the pilot to crash the airplane while you’re flying in it…

Irregardless of who is the White House, America is still great….

So, what have I been up to these past few weeks…

Sorry I haven’t written anything of late. But something big came up:

I’ve had the Commute From Hell, especially given my preference for the opening shift at work. To be there at 6 to start, I’ve had to be up at 1:00-1:30 in the morning, and walked for 4 1/2+ miles to get to the bus stop. And I did it. And management was duly impressed. But there was another location only a 20 minute walk from my apartment. I first tried to attempt a transfer 3 years ago when I was still only part-time, and went nowhere. But I kept at it, and later that year, I was promoted to full-time (stuff like this happens when you show up on time). The next spring, I inquired again, and this time I was told to step down to part time before they’d even look at me. Needless to say, I stay where I was. Next year, I tried again, and this time the manager of the location came up to my workplace to specifically ask about me, and he stated that it was the right thing to do, but nothing came of it. But finally, this year, after the store manager, and the district HR manager went to bat, I got my transfer approved. And I start there tomorrow.

After 3 years of trying….

From Frustration, a plus…

Wiped my tower. This time, to partition my hard drive to make space for Linux. And I replaced my Wi-Fi card, this time to one with bluetooth, as well (the now-retired usb dongle has now been thrown out).

As aprt of the reinstallation, I went to reinstall and activate my CyberLink PowerDVD and Power2GO. And I got a rude messgae that I had hit the limit for allowed activiations. So I fired up the web browser, and sent a letter to tech support. And then I realized they had a special. I paid $200.00+ for my two programs last year. And CyberLink had a package deal where I could get the current versions for only a quarter of what I originally paid for them. So, I just bought the current versions. And secured the product keys in a safe place….

For some reason...

For some reason, I think today is a good day for cake. Not that I'm going to have any, for the obvious health reasons. It's just today seems kind of cakey....

Probably it's somebody's birthday today. Happy Birthday, if that is the case....

Here we go again, part II...

So, the Super Bowl had kicked off. And I'm watching it. For the commercials. And I've decided to go with another version of Windows. Though I've confirmed that my hardware is compatible with Linux, so this will be a dual boot configuration...

Here's to Tom Brady getting a well deserved beating today. And my laundry getting done today.

Here we go again…

While I’m waiting for the Super Bowl to kick off, I’m going to try my hand at Linux. Again. If all goes well, I’ll be dual-booting Windows 10 and OpenSuSE Linux. I’ve already downloaded and burned the Linux distro to DVD. And my back-up is sufficiently recent so if anything goes wrong, I won’t lose much…

Once more unto the breach, dear friends….

Render Unto Ceaser, 2017 edition

As you may have read in my post Sunday, I did my taxes. Since I got paid for jury duty last year, I had to file the long form (1040) to declare it. Anyway, according to the IRS, my refund has been approved, and I should be getting it next week, and I should be broke again by next weekend.

But enough about that. I’ve done my duty as a citizen, as I have on other occasions.

It’s raining outside….

Nothing to do all day today. Stayed home. Took a sick day from work. And I don’t regret it. There is a very serious bug going around work, and I thought I was starting to get it last night, so I called out. The last thing I need is to get up at 1:30 in the morning and head out to work while ill. SO instead, I slept it off. 12 hours’ worth. And I’m feeling better. I’d rather nip in the bud now than deal with it when it’s much worse….

Having said that, it’s currently raining like a cow relieving itself on a rock. I have yahoo weather installed on my phone, and it’s set to flash a 15 minute warning when rain is passing through. The past month, it has gone off two times. Both of them were today.

But I’m dry inside…

If you don't feel right….

I’m not going to work tomorrow. A co-worker was working sick today, and had to go home early. She did her darndest not to pass it around, but I’m starting to feel the aches and pains and the ooky feeling in my throat. And since I have enough sick time accrued, I call the manager and let him know….

Apologies to my co-workers tomorrow, but my health is paramount…

Productivity Alert!

Today is Sunday. Usually my day off. And the first day of my “weekend”. Since I’m up and at ‘em at the Ass-Crack of dawn, this is my designated ‘sleep in’ day. And the second day of my weekend is for errands and other day-off tasks.

But due to a shift in my schedule, this is my only day off. On the bright side, though, I’ll get Saturday and Sunday off for the time being. Having said that, today was my only day off to do a whole weekend’s worth of errands. But today, in addition to sleeping in, I was able to file my taxes (return accepted, refund should be arriving shortly), do my laundry (currently in the dryer), and adjust the prices at Mrs. Fields Cookies.

And I ordered a new wi-fi/bluetooth card…

All is well, so far.

So apparently last night’s ‘explosion’ was just the power supply going out in spectacular fashion. As I went to bed, I looked at the computer desk, and realized that I still had the old power supply. So, I took out the burnt out corpse, and put the old power supply back in. And I still have a computer. All the components that I feared had fried are apparently functioning. And I’ve ordered a replacement power supply.

As for replacing the computer, I think it’ll wait for now. Though I reserve the right to change my mind…

All is not too bleak

Yes, my computer died tonight. But I still have my phone. And a laptop. And a recent backup. And plans to rebuild a new tower, abs make it better...

This sucks!

So my past weekend, I went with Windows 8.1 on my tower. Today, I get home from, and I reached down to turn it on, and was greeted by sparks and smoke from the power supply. I assuming my entire tower is toast. I’m thinking that I might be able to salvage my hard drive out of it, but the video card, the newtowrk card, and the tv tuer are toast. I’ll have to replace it. And probably my software too, since it’s activated with a hardware signature (hopefully not my Steam and Origin games). Luckily, I had a recent backup, and the ubd drive was turned off so it didn’t get the power surge.

Goodbye tower…

The furthest its lasted….

Got tee’d off at Windows 7 Saturday night. So, I put Windows 8.1 back on my system. All the other issues that I’ve had with it, I’ve made peace with them. And unlike Windows 10, I’m not going to get taskbar to use Edge when I use Chrome. It will take some adaptations but I’m willing to try. Come to think of it, I have no choice. I’ve already installed and activated my CyberLink PowerDVD and Power2Go, and I don’t want any issues with too many activations…

Hello World. This is Windows 8.1.

They came in, and then they left…

Seahawks beat Detroit at home. Then went to Atlanta. And lost. So now that season is over. Maybe next year, if they can get a decent offensive line….

Much has happened at work. I’m currently being considered for a transfer to a store much closer. Personally, I don’t think I’m going to get it, but I also see other opprtunities in the pipeline, so I’m not giving up hope yet….

The Lions are coming!

The Seahawks won today. 3 weeks ago, they won the NFC West division. As division champions, they get to have at least one home game during the playoff. And with Green Bay beating Detroit tonight, the playoff schedule is set. The Lions come to Seattle.

I just hope the Seahawks can get it together. They definitely have the talent. But the talent needs to work together. Each week that I’ve watched, there has been at least one aspect that has had issues. Usually, the rest of the team has been able to pull it through, but there were times when they couldn’t. It’s now do or die. Win or go home…

So 2017 is now here...

2016 is past. An as of the writing of this post, Betty White is still alive.

All is well. For now.

Should auld acquaintance be forgot, 2016 version

If you’re in the great Pacific NorthWET (especially since it’s raining right now), 2016 has about 6 hours left (as of when this post is being written). It’s been a strange trip this past year, but aren’t all the years strange trips of late?

In no particular order or signifincance (these are just popping in my head as I write them)…

• Mom went to the Great Beyond. This was probably the most significant event this year, and I’m still adjusting.
• I only bought 2 pairs of shoes this year.
• Rialto Jewelers at the Southcenter Mall in Tukwila are really good at resizing watches (yes, I was\still am friends with them previously, but still they know their stuff.
• In all my years as a diabetic, my blood sugar has gotten low on a couple of occaision. Usually, I have some sugar nearby, and it’s taken care of right away. There have been a couple of occaisons where I’ve almost become incoherent. Then there was the time on Christmas eve where I passed out…
• I finally named a beneficiary to the my life insurance policy that I have through work: my brother. I also added an accidental death policy. Along with the admonition to make it look like an accident…
• My TV died, so I got a replacement. And 1 week later, promptly got another replacement (let’s just say that it’s hard to go from a 55” to a 32” set…)
• I got another printer. Parents couldn’t figure out how to put ink in Mom’s printer, so she bought another one, and gave me her printer. Less than an hour later, I had ink ordered. And I spent more on ink than she did on the original printer (and this is a wi-fi capable multi-function printer).
• The power went out. Twice. Not bad.
• Bought a bunch of useless crap, mainly from Amazon.
• I still have the same phone.
• And the same computer, though the video card gave up the ghost.

I’m not setting any resolutions this year. That’s just setting oneself up for failure. If I see an opportunity to improve, I’ll take it. You don’t need a special holiday to turn over a new leaf…

So now, 2016 now has 5 1/2 hours left. I’m home for the night, the shoes are off, and I wish you a Happy New Year. And if you drink, don’t drive…

An end to the vacation

My vacatio ends today. Tomorrow, I return to work. Basically, all I did during my vacation was absolutely nothing. Sure, I did my Christmas shopping on Friday, and celebrated Christmas Saturday and Sunday (as I previously posted about). But the rest of the week, I did nothing. Just vegged out and ate Christmas leftovers. I watched college football. I was going out to visit some friends, but I decided that this week will be recovery time.

Btw, I did work on my computer. Started wiping the drive Friday, and I finished reinstalling everything this morning.

Holiday wishes were sent (and recieved). But the time has come to think about going back to work….

Merry Christmas, blah, blah, blah….

Another Christmas is upon us, and has almost passed. Again, there were two family reunions for me to go to. The first one, I missed for all intents and purposes. I was in my Grandma’s living room, having just watched the Seahawks game. It was probably about 5 o’clock or so. The next thing I remember is like a dream. I was dreaming that my father and my brother were trying to get me to check my blood sugar. What had really happened was that I had a hypoglycemic episode and had passed out on the couch, and they were trying to bring me aroud. The m&m’s my father provided were what brought me around. So, I made it to the first Bryant Family reunion, and after my second cup of apple juice, I was coherent enough to chech my blood sugar, which was still low. I think what happened was the change in venue. Grandma’s house is too small for the family reunion, so they rented a Grange Hall. And that was where all the food was. Basically, I was a combination of too high of an insulin dose at breakfast, too long without eating, and not having a source of candy nearby. Lesson learned: I will always have candy within arms’ reach.

But I made it to the Grange Hall. And I felt fine after the third glass of apple juice. I missed the church service and dinner, but made it for the gift exchange. We drew lots this year, and I was the very last lot. This being done in white elephant style, you could either choose a present, or you could steal another relative’s present, and make them choose another. Since I had the very last lot, I could either steal any other cousin’s gift, or open the last one under the tree. Upon consultation with my brother (who is the cook in the apartment), I stole the crockpot that another cousin got. And having been on the recieving end of one too many ‘gag’ presents in years past, I decided this year to give one: a USB pet rock. I also threw in a gift card to a national retail chain, too.

So, fast forward to today. This was the family Christmas celebration. I made sure that I wasn’t going to pass out at this one. There was food. Lots of it. And it was good. And I brough leftovers home. When it came to the gift exchange, some nephews/nieces got gift cards to Target, some to Worst Buy. And my brother, I got him a talking plush Dalek. And the DVD set of I, Claudius (we had both taken the same humanities class in high school, where Mr. Tarry had shown it). I gave Grandma a couple of gift cards, one to Subway and one to Jack in the Box. My Father got a gift card to The Home Depot. And also there’s the present I gave to the owners of the Mrs. Fields I used to work at: I’m taking February 13th and 14th off to work at Mrs. Fields so they can go enjoy Valentine’s Day as a couple.

Some of the stull I got today:

• Know what, I’m not going to list it this year. It is better to give than to recieve….

Merry, Christmas, Happy Hannukuh, Happy Kwanzaa, Happy Festivus, Happy Solstice, Hapy New Year, or Happy Whatever Day You Choose to Celebrate…

On a little road trip.

It's Christmas Eve. Which means I'm on the bus, headed out to Grandma's. This year, I have a full week off (I'm actually on day 2). And I'm heading up way too early, so I can service a laptop and hopefully get that up and running as a favor to my father.

So Merry Christmas, Happy Hanakkuh, Happy Festivus, or Happy Solstice. Or failing that, the 'Hawks are playing at the CLink this afternoon, and reminding everyone why you shouldn't wear a mitre on the football field...

Gosh darn it!

Went to turn on the computer this morning and my usb 3.0 hub had gone on to The Beer Volcano and Stripper Factory last night. No Problem. I just went to Spamazon, and ordered a new one. Yes, there were cheaper ones available, but I’ve also found that on Amazon, you generally get what you pay for, and if you get cheap merchandise now, you’ll end up replacing it. Soon. And to be honest, I’ve never had an issue with the Amazon house brand. And I’ve never really had an issue with house brands in general. The Home Depot has Husky, Worst Buy has Insignia, and Spamazon has Amazon Basics. All really good. And not expensive….

Blown out yesterday….

The Seahawks were blown out yesterday. 38-10. But they’re still atop the NFC West. And in fact they’re the only team with a winning record right now. But the Sounders FC won it all Saturday night (on the road even), so I don’t mind this loss that much…

Anyway, my weekend has come to an end, and so I must retire for the night.

They won it all last night

The Sounders FC won the MLS Cup last night. In every year that they've played in the MLS, they've at least gotten into the post-season. They've won The Supporters' Shield (which in European Leagues is how the Champion is determined) in the past and the Lamar Hunt U.S. Open Cup on numerous occasions. It's time they won it all...

All this for a spell-checker…

Wiped the tower this past weekend (which is why there no posts Sunday or Monday). I had overcome all my previous issues with Windows 8.1, and in fact I was looking forward to using as my daily driver. Got all my drivers installed. Then it came time to do the in place upgrade to Windows 8.1 Pro. No go. So, I go to Windows Update, and it would download or install updates. After al whole day of this, I wipe the tower again and start over. This time I can upgrade to Pro, and then I start updating. And eventually I end up with it not being able to update. Again. So, Monday night, I said screw this, and I pulled out my Windows 10 thumb drive. I didn’t even have to enter my Windows 8.1 pro key to upgrade this time (the secret, I’ve found out, is to let all the marketplace apps, including the store app to update themselves, then it’ll upgrade you to Pro).

I guess Windows 10 is what I’m meant to run now. Not that it’s a bad system. In fact, it’s a really good system. Oh well. At least I still have a computer….

Made an exception to the rule today…

Normally, I call out for weather only when it’s cold. Like in the teens or lower. I tried to make arrangements previously to come in an hour later, and avoid most of the walking, but it was still recorded as a tardy occurrence, so I’m either on time, or not at all. Anyway, I said I had made an occurrence to my rule last night. I saw that the forecast was in the lower 20s last night. So I went ahead and called out. I had been saving my last eight hours of sick time for instances like this, and I felt that this was the time to use it.

Yes, there is a difference between getting up at 8 in the morning vs. getting up at 1:30…

The only drawback is that the next cold snap I’m going to have to tough it out and walk it in…