A couple of tricks here and there…

My very first tower (the Gateway PIII 866mHz running Windows ME) came with Microsoft Works Suite 2001. The computer eventually went to The Beer Volcano & Stripper Factory, but I held on to the Works Suite. And also right after I upgraded to Windows XP, I also got Encarta Reference Library 2002, Picture It! Platinum 2002, Money 2002, and Streets and Trips 2002. And I held on to the CD’s when the computer failed.

So, last week, I wiped my tower. I was trying to go with Windows 8.1, but Microsoft screwed it to the point that I couldn’t even sign into my Microsoft account. So yesterday, I went with Windows 10. And I realized that while even Microsoft says that these programs aren’t compatible with Window's 10, I had never tried it myself. So I started plugging the CD’s in. I got the programs installed, and with judicial application with compatibility mode, I got them to work. I’m not going to use them, since they’ve been obsolete for over 10 years, but I can get them to work….

Saw dad yesterday….

Well, in addition to it being Taco Tuesday yesterday, I also went to my sisters to visit Dad. He’s still improving. His mind is still there. He’s regaining the control of his right side (when I saw him in the hospital, he was eating with his left hand). I think the longest lasting effect from his stroke will be his speech. I can see this from his use of circumlocution. But you’re not going to get it back if you don’t use it, I guess I can help him by just conversing with him.

Rehabbing from a stroke is very hard work. And I can see the effort he has put into it to come this far. I will never call my dad lazy again (although to be honest, I never did to begin with)….

Does it really matter?

There was a shooting in Las Vegas Sunday night. My only comment on that is that I will not comment on it. Other than to say violence in all forms is evil. It doesn’t matter if your pro-gun, anti-gun, democrat, republican, white, black, yellow, red, or even purple. Your life matters. Everybody’s life matters. Tell those around you that you love them tonight before it’s too late…

iPhone 8 is out…

Normally I wouldn’t write about this, but the new iPhone 8 is now out. And the iPhone X will be out in a couple of months. And my brother (the iPhone user in the house) was up for renewal on his lease. He chose the iPhone 8. He has his reasons, and so I ordered it. Arrived Friday, but due to work schedules, I couldn’t activate it until yesterday. And today I dropped the old one off at the Sprint store so the UPS man could pick it up (as I wrote about yesterday UPS isn’t the most reliable at my apartment)….

So my brother has a new iPhone. Since this was simply replacing the previous one, I don’t have to take his Man-Card…

My new ride home….

Got a new bicycle last week. Unlike the first one, this one actually works. Assembly was pretty straightforward. Took it work Saturday, and rode it home that night. Where I normally don’t get home till after 2 am, I was home by 1 am. But there was a drawback. I’m even more out of shape than I thought I was. And my legs were Jello. So Sunday night, I left the bike at home and walked. And then I realized that that’s the last time I was walking.

So occasionally I still get winded, and there are stretches were I can’t pedal (I really don’t like inclines). In those cases, I’ll just get off my bike and walk it. And when I catch my breath again and/or I reach the top of the hill, I’ll get back on it…

On the NFL protests….

Before someone else goes on about ‘respect for the flag’, think of this. It is only a flag. It represents values and freedom. And can think of no greater respect for those values and freedom by non-violently protesting your cause. Seriously, most of those up in arms about the players taking knees and/or sitting down during the national anthem are probably the ones who were buying beer and/or using the can during the nation anthem itself.

Think about it, without protest we wouldn’t have most civil rights legislation. India wouldn’t be independent. And quite frankly, we wouldn’t have an America either. They have a right to protest. Just as you, too.

America has become so divisive of late. Every Monday, I used to be able to discuss the previous days’ football games. Now, I won’t mention them in accordance with my pledge to keep work non-partisan. America is too divided, and I can no longer enjoy football…

He gets out tomorrow….

My father has spent the past 4 weeks in the hospital. First in Madigan, then in Good Sam in Puyallup with a stroke (possibly two). For those of you who are following such things, it was his left posterior cerebral artery. Could’ve been worse, but this was still a major stroke.  There are still long lasting effects (namely aphasia, and difficulty counting money), but he has come a long way. He can now walk without a walker. He can go up and down stairs. Even there is aphasia, he can still talk, and his snarkiness is still there.

For safety reasons, he’ll need to be supervised 24/7 so he’ll be staying at my younger sisters for now. When the time is right, he’ll go back home to Grandma.

Things may never be the same again, but they’ll be alright.

So, it’s been awhile….

So, it’s been awhile since I used the laptop. I can tell that. It took over four hours to bring it up to date. First there was the Windows Update. There was at least one big update that didn’t get installed the last time I used it. And then there were the usual various and sundry other updates that needed to be installed. Then there were the Microsoft Store apps that were installed. And while those were running, I had to update Firefox (and the extensions, too). And then Steam and Origin (actually those were more mainly installing the two games that I had purchased since I last turned it on)….

But it’s all good. The laptop is up-to-date…

Fired up the laptop today

So today I came down with another flare-up of my chronic operating system wanderlust. So after backing everything up yesterday (backing up my Steam gashes took the longest), I pulled out my Windows 8.1 📀 set and started to wipe my tower.

But while I'm doing this, I still have a working computer. I haven't touched it in a while, but my laptop still works. So, I've pulled out of and turned it on. Though I'm worrying this from my phone since it needs to install two months' worth of updates first...

Don’t ship Brown!

Over the past couple of weeks, I’ve ordered a few items from Worst Buy. Nothing really big. Just a couple of pairs of headphones and a watch. Ordered them online. And they were promptly shipped. That’s where my problems began. They were shipped via UPS. Normally when I’m not home, they leave a notice, and I can sign it, and they leave on my doorstep the next day. I’ve never had a package stolen (I trust my neighbors). But these last three shipments were not the case. There was just a simple notive on my door that they were being delivered to the UPS access point. After the first two items were delivered there (two different orders showed up on the same day), I went to pick them up. Big mistake. They require photo ID. My ID (Washington State ID card) was apparently not accepted. There was another option to use an SMS to verify my phone number. Nope. So I left without my packages. I had to go to work the next day, and due to bus routes and my work schedule, nothing could be done until today….

And there was a third order that was shipped brown. It was supposed to be delivered today. It was my day off. I decided to stay home today and wait for it. I could’ve gone to the hospital and visited my father today, but I decided to wait. I waited. And in the afternoon, I noticed that another notice had been left on my door. The driver never knocked! I did sign up for UPS MyChoice, and there was an option to reschedule delivery for $8.00 per package! I guess that’s why the driver didn’t bother knocking. UPS is trying to double-dip and collect on shipping from both ends. I contacted UPS, and after the standard we can reship it/we can return it hollow non-apology response, I told them to return all three items, and I’ll just eat my losses. They did offer to schedule a redelivery free of charge, but the trust is gone. I’ve also let Best Buy know what is going on. Perhaps their legal team will be more vigorous in recovering shipping losses than UPS is in bothering to deliver them.

I spent about $75.00 on these three items, and I didn’t get them. And I really don’t know if I’ll get my money back. UPS not only owes me an apology, but they also owe one to Best Buy. But we both know that’s not going to happen. Had UPS actually given a shit to begin with, I’d have my items. Instead, I have excuses, empty promises, and pretend apologies from incomptent clods who never really cared to begin with.

Just don’t ship brown people. UPS just doesn’t care.

So sometime last year….

So apparently sometime last year, I had set the X1 box to record Monday Night Football. Which it still did. Sunday, I set up a recording for the Monday Night game, knowing I would be at work. And today, being my day off, I went to watch the game, and realized that I had last week’s doubleheader recorded, too.

So I guess, I have three football games to watch today…

Arrrr...

Today is International Talk Like A Pirate Day. Shiver your timbers. Buckle your swash. Splice the main brace. Although if you do the latter, I'd rather you not drive. Popping a DUI is no fun.

Right now I'm in the hospital, visiting Dad. He's currently sleeping, after a busy morning. I'll let him sleep. He's making much progress.

For the first time this season…

Tonight, not only is my window closed, but I just turned on the heat for the first time.I’ll probably turn it off before I go to bed momentarily. But it’s still worth noting that I’m using the heat again.

Today was my friday. Tomorrow I go to visit dad with my sister. I’ve a few other errands to run, and she has offered to drive me around on my day off (first offered it during mom’s memorial). Since my bike is a lemon, I was going to recycle it (about 40 lbs. of aluminium). But instead, I’m going to give it to my boss at Mrs. Fields. My next bike should be here on Friday. And application of lesson learned: the box will not be thrown out until I’ve assembled it.

The weather has finally turned...

The ratings came back about a month ago, but summer had some reserve left in it. With the end of summer coming this week, the rains have come back. Not that I'm complaining.

When I planned my trip to work today,I decided to try a new route. But, I left at the wrong time, and now I have a half our to kill at the transit center. I'm not going to be late to work. I'm just über early.

Dad is now talking in coherent sentences, and he's walking longer distances. This was a major stroke that he had, and any progress is grounds for rejoicing.

Happy Birthday Grandma. 92 years old today. Get the cake!

An attempt at making my commute better….

So I finally broke down this past labor day. I ordered a bicycle. I knew that I couldn’t order just a bicycle (which was the main reason why I had held off for so long). In addition to a bicycle, I’d have to get a helmet (I’ve buried friends who went biking without helmets). And I’d have to get a lock or two (Parkland is still one of the shadiest areas around). Then I was thinking what would happen while I was riding it. So that meant a portable tire pump, patches and tools. And I would be riding in the dark. So that meant lights. I placed the order….

I was going to get a hybrid bike, since I was to be using this mainly for work, riding over roads. The model I hod originally ordered had fenders and a cargo rack. It arrived yesterday, and I started putting it together. The front brake needed to be adjusted, but it still worked. It was missing the bolt to install the front fender. Ok, I can go get another one. The real reflector was smashed (shipping casualty). I was going to replace it with a light. But the deal breaker was the bicycle chain. Somehow it had lodged between the chain ring and the frame, and no amount of pulling or swearing could budge it. The only way to fix it was to take the crank arm off, and I don’t have those tools. And it’s kind of a deal breaker to have to take it to a bicycle mechanic straight from the box. BTW, I stupidly decided to throw the box out right away, so I can return it. So I decided to order a different one (a slightly better model). The no-go bike will be recycled, but I will be keeping the seat…..

Saw Dad today….

My dad is now out of Madigan. He was discharged in to acute rehab. At Good Sam hospital in Puyallup. My younger sister made that call. It was either that or St. Joe’s in Tacoma (or a bunch of hospitals in Seattle), and it was decided basically by looking at the bus lines. It’s easier for the non-driving children to make it Puyallup.

Basically, my father had a stroke on the left Posterior Cerebral Artery, and all the symptoms that he’s been showing reflect that. My uncle Bill was discussing this with his doctor at Madigan, and make no doubt about, this was a major stroke. He’s only communicating with 1 or 2 words at a time, and he’s sleeping a lot. And there’s a lot that he has to relearn again. But he is trying. And he still recognizes his children….

All will be well. It may not be the same as before. But all will be well…

I can't explain it...

I can't explain it. But for some reason today feels like a good day for cake....

Don’t want to really go into it, but

I have to remind myself that I need to let go of my ego. No matter how bad it is, hubris will only make things worse…

Tonight’s episode of buyer beware comes from….

Famous Footwear. Went in today to use my gift card. I had been there several times before (I usually paid for my purchases with Paypal there. Something that will come up later). So today, I go in & look for a good pair of Columbia footwear. Normally, they have a buy 1, get 1 half price, so I also selected a pair of K-Swiss trainers (as well as the Columbia’s). I knew this was more than my gift card, but I figured I could paypal the rest. Go up to checkout, and give them the gift card. They ring me in. I give them my gift card. They ask me how much is on it, And I said there was $100. She said there was only $52.41 on it. Red Flag #1. But I roll with it, since I had also gotten 15% off for joining the rewards program. I then said that I’d like to use my paypal. And that’s where the probem started. The creen didn’t advance to where I would enter my phone number, and the other employee basically told me that I wasn’t going to be using my paypal that day. So I decided to fuck it, and told them I didn’t want to make the purchase. Now, any cashier capable of rubbing two neurons together would be able to figure out that you just hit the void key. Nope. Not these two people. Nope. They were going to have to ‘cash out’ my gift card and give me another one. I told them to forget it, and I walked out. The overall ‘vibe’ I got from my experience was that I wasn’t welcome, and even though they have my money, I can’t have my product.

So, I’ve asked Famous Footwear to have their district manager explain to me:

1. I want to know why my gift card only had $52.41 on it, and I want to see the entire purchase history of it. And this is for the old card, not the new one that they were going to load it onto. I smell a rat.
2. I need an explanation as to why they no longer accept Paypal. I have the paypal app and pin set up, and I was flat out told that I couldn't use it on this purchase.
3. I need an explanation as to why the 2 employees at the register are not adequately trained. And specifically why the store manager allowed this to happen, and why specifically he/she will still have a job here.
4. I need an explanation as to why I wasn't welcome there. It seemed like I was a burden there, and it was just easier for me to just eat my losses and leave then to keep being told no and to jump through your hoops for a simple purchase of two pairs of shoes.

Now, it’s not the loss of the gift card that really bothers me. It was a gift from my brother, and this is a case where it is the thought that truly counts. But there is a reason why he got it for me, and he is not happy that I’m getting jack shit for it…

Famous Footwear, I’ll leave it your imagination to figure out where you can shove your gift card and your excuses.

BTW, suprisingly I was able to find the exact same shoes on Newegg. Who knew?

Hello again, it's been a while...

Hello again, it's been a while since I wrote. New job is going well, I hope. Due to scheduling, I had to make the 4 1/2 mile walk that I've last made 6 months ago. And my feet let me know. Blisters. Plantar Fasciitis. It will be a while, but my feet will adapt. I also have a $100 famous footwear gift card that will go torwards addressing the matter.

Dad's in the hospital. Had at least two strokes. He was still in it enough that he drove himself to the Emergency Room. Right now, they're talking about lots of therapy. He was/still is my grandmother's caretaker for the past 20 years, so he's leaving some very big shoes to fill...

Don’t spill coffee on your keyboard!

A couple of weeks, I took a day off from my now successful job search. And I brewed a pot of coffee in the big coffeemaker in the kitchen. And so I brought a big cup of joe into my room and sat down to the computer. During my misadventures on the internet, I had to get up (probably to pee). And in doing so, I turned around my big office chair. And knocked over the cup of coffee. It spilled everywhere. My desk took most of it, and being over 16 years old, it just added to the patina. some of it splilled on to the tower, but by then I had grabbed the paper towels, so damage was limited to a slightly sticky power button. It still works. Right underneath that was my Blu-Ray drive, and there was no damage there.

And then some spilled on the keyboard. Several of the keys were very sticky, and I pried one of them off to clean it, and when I stuck it back on, it just sounded differently when pressed. Needless to say, it was time to replace it. I didn’t need to upgrade it (I use the logitech cordless wave), in fact I didn’t want to. So, I had to bite the bullet, log on to Newegg and order a replacement. Which arrived today. The one good thing about doing an exact replacement in computer hardware is that there no new drivers to deal with…

So, I finally got to celebrate today….

My birthday was Friday. I got all the well wishes posted to my Facebook wall. And there was a text or two. But I also started my new job last week, and I had to work that day, so I kept it low key. Phil offered pizza, but given the schedule, it was agreed to postpone it till today (actually yesterday since I’m writing this at 1:00 in the morning). We got Papa Murphy’s. And it was good. He also gave me a gift card to Famous Footwear, because I’m going to be doing a lot of walking at work, and then there’s the commute. And I can always use a good pair of shoes. I don’t thing my feet will ever get used to the Sketchers. I think I’ll go back to my Columbia’s….

But I also saw the Mariners game today. And I’m still disappointed in it. You can’t have it all…

My first weekend in a long while….

Started new job last week. And I just finished up my first work week there.  So I have the next two days off, and then I head back to work. I said this before that I’m going to like it here. And I still am.

There was this solar eclipse this morning. I got up early to observe it. At peak totality, it was only slightly darker than normal. I didn’t have the special eclipse glasses, so I didn’t directly look at it (vision is so undervalued)… If you don’t have the proper eyewear, eclipses are best watched on CNN…

I can tell this already…..

I can tell this already. I’m going to like my new job. Though circimstances dictate that I not mention my employer on this blog, just know that I’ll be having a blast.

Here’s to the future…

It was a good day today….

The Seahawks put the beat-down on the Chargers. 38-17, IIRC. But this was only week 1 of the pre-season, so that just says our second stringers are better than their second stringers. But this is still a result. It shows that they’re learning the skills in practice. More importantly, in the more likely than you think event that one gets cut, the other teams are seeing this performance, too…

The Mariners on the other hand. After all the effort to get over .500 and get into position for post season play, they get swept at home by the Angels. We need a healthy King Felix. We need a healthy James Paxton. Better yet, we need healthy pitchers, period…

I start my new job on Tuesday, and they want me in bright and early. Not as early as my previous job, but given the fact that I’ve been sleeping in really late the past couple of weeks (since I’ve been treating this as my vacation, too), and I need to get into get up early form.

The return of an old friend…

Tonight, an old friend came back. It was almost two months since this friend had left. And come to think of it, when my friend left, I first enjoyed my friend’s absence. But as the summer wore on, I began to miss my friend….

But tonight, as I was in the kitchen preparing a bite to eat, I looked out the windows. And I saw the rain. Welcome back. You have been missed. Just please don’t make me have to commute through you….

How to reinstall an operating system….

I first learned how to reinstall my OS back when I got my first computer. It had Windows ME on it. The manufacturer installed setup lasted 4 months. What happened was my system stopped being able to burn Audio CDs, and tech support told me to wipe it. So I did. And then while doing it, I blew out my modem and my sound card. And that was the first time I cursed out tech support. They really didn’t appreciate that. But a couple of hundred dollars later (since I had to replace the components), and a couple of days, I was up and running again. Burning audio CD’s were always an issue, but considering how I was running WinME, Norton, and a flaky cd burner… The issue with burning audio CD’s wasn’t really successfully addressed until I upgraded to Windows XP, and I had to buy the then current version of Easy CD Creator from Roxio. But I dgress:

I soon added a second hard drive, and became adept at backing my data up externally. Today, I just use an USB hard drive. Anyway through all the years of experimenting with different configurations (various versions of Windows, Linux, and dual-booting), experience has taught the best, most painless way to rebuild your system:

1. Nuke it, and then reinstall the OS of your choice on a clean partition. All ‘upgrading’ is going to get you are problems. If you’re old OS is going to give you drama, expect it to carry over to your next OS. I learned this from WinME.
2. Once the OS, is installed, then the next thing is to reinstall your network drivers. Because you need an internet connection for activation and updates. Some of my network devices had native OS support, others I had to install the driver. Then, you need to activate your OS, if applicable (Windows 8.1 on my computer is what it came with, and Windows 10 is activating via a digital entitlement to my microsoft account).
3. Next, before you install any other driver, is to hit Windows Update and bring your OS up to date. With Windows 10, this actually happens automatically as part of the initial set up. With Windows 7 and 8.1, I actually have most of the needed updates downloaded on to USB drives, so I just update them from there, and then I’ll go to Windows Update and finish it there.
4. Then I install the video card drivers. One of my problems with 8.1 a couple of months ago was that the video card drivers I was installing needed a patch from Windows Update first.
5. Then I install the rest of my hardware drivers. Currently this includes:
• 2 Printers
• a bluetooth adapter. It’s actually part of my network card, but physically it connect to my computer through a usb riser, so it’s a different driver).
• a TV tuner. I’ve actually had one in my computer since 2001.
• 2 game controllers. 1 is a joystick for my Flight Simulator, the other is conventional gamepad.
• A wireless keyboard/mouse combo.
• And the all essential sound card.
6. And after this come the essential utilites. 7-zip, SciTE, Google Drive, Dropbox, Amazon Drive, OneDrive (if applicable), Chrome, my HOSTS file, among others. Yes, I use Firefox as my web browser of choice, and I’ll install it later. But Chrome works for now.
7. Then I fire up my external hard drive, and I copy all my files over. All 735 GB’s of it. These are all my documents, music, Steam back-ups, virtual machines, and some other things.
8. After this, is when I install Office 365.

And from here, my system rebuilds take different paths.  Sometimes it depends on the time of day (there are some items that take so much time, that I just leave the computer on overnight. And there are some items of software that are or are not compatible with version of Windows that I’m running. Generally after I install Office is when I install Nero, Cyberlink, Firefox, and Thunderbird. And that’s when I start using my computer again.

Obviously when I wipe my computer, it takes time to get everything reinstalled and moved in again. Everytime I do it, I’m without my Flight Simulator, and my MechWarrior for as long as it takes to reinstall it.

But now, I also have my laptop, so I still access to a computer. And since my laptop came with Windows 10 on it, there really is no option as to which OS to run, so there’s no incentive to nuke it on a semi-daily basis…

So I finally saw Rogue One….

Finally Netflix’ed Rogue One. And I was impressed. It manages to tell the entire story in one film. And it ties up all the details so you can immediately put Episode 4 into the Blu-Ray.  But it also seems like a Shakespearean tragedy in the sense that everybody seems to get killed off on the film.

Having said that, I will tell you how the film end (scroll down to see):

The credits roll.

The other good thing that happened today

Many good things happened today. I got The Phone Call. I had a good cup of coffee. I woke up. It was sunny. I wore pants.

But there's one more thing that happened today that's of significance. Today was the last day of the heat wave. Yes, tomorrow is forecast to be in the 80s, but compared to the 90s that we've been facing of late. I don't mind the sun. But my room window faces the West, and so I have the full force of the heat of the day. Yes, the living room is air conditioned, but that does nothing for my room...

I got the phone call today.

After over a month, I got the phone call today. I rejoin the workforce next Tuesday….

So, I’m not watching football tonight….

It’s Thursday. It’s preseason football. Especially after the post last night, you’d think I’d be watching the games tonight. Nope. As of the first pitch tonight the Mariners were secure in the second wild card place in the playoffs. They’re playing the Angels tonight. So, I’m watching the Mariners. As for preseason football, I’m not worried. NFL Network is going to rerun all the games this preseason. I’ll watch them later….

Watching some job-searching….

One of the reasons why I like the NFL pre-season is the heart the players show. The starters don’t necessarily play much in the pre-season, since their positions are already secure, and no head coach wants to see them get hurt. But the second and third stringers are competing for work. And so you get see players show heart that you normally wouldn’t see. I also like it because every year, the NFL network will show every pre-season game (mostly on tape delay).

May the best applicant get the job…

Another hot day today….

It’s so hot (again) that I was driven out of my room and into the air-conditioned living room. Thank The Flying Spaghetti Monster for laptops….

My job search has apparently come to an end. I passed the background check, and I should be getting a call soon to begin orientation.  Until then, my vacation has been extended.

Paid another round of bills today. I’m down to my last $100. But the utilities and my credit cards are all still current. And I do have a few dollars coming in from Mrs. Fields. The store owner is doing his best, but there are just not enough hours for me there to survive on. Maybe down the road, I can buy the store, but that is one of those dreams to be watched with caution.

I’m just about finished up with installing Windows 10 on my tower. I just need to finish up with Flight Simulator X and DosBox. And then I can try OpenSuSE. Since the laptop only has Windows 10 on it, I have been forced to use it, and have gotten used to it. And this way, when I blog with Open Live Writer, I can have spell-check….

Preseason starts today. Well, there was this Hall Of Fame Game last week. But tonight, it starts for the rest of the league. Here’s to Tom Brady getting a well-deserved beating this year. Figuratively, not literally. I don’t want to see him get hurt. Just embarrassed. Maybe some defensive lineman could give him an Atomic Wedgie….

So, no Hydroplanes races on TV this year…

Today the Unlimited Hydroplanes are racing up in Seattle. Growing up, I looked forward to watching them run on TV, and listen to them on the Radio (the Miss Rock was the loudest boat out there). But there is no TV coverage this year. No Blue Angels show. KIRO should realize that there are greater things that ratings…

However, the Mariners are playing a double header today. Hopefully King Felix can get off the DL soon…

Oh, the humanity!

I was just driven into the air-conditioned living room by the heat. I now have to interact with my roommate now! This is terrible!

Let’s get ready for the heat

They’re saying that tomorrow will be the hottest day of the heat wave. Actually, that would be today, since it’s 12:30 in the morning. I have nothing on my agenda tomorrow (more on that later), and while one is tempted to stay home in the AC’ed living room, I think I’m going to head out tomorrow. I need to get out the house, and there are air-conditioned places that I can go to.

To judge or not to judge, part ii, or something…

I’m going to be deliberately vague on this, so as to not identify specific individuals…. This has happened more that once to me. I turn on the computer, and the first thing I see is two of my friends are separating and/or divorcing. I don’t take sides in cases like this. It’s already messed up without me adding more fire to the drama. And 9 times out of 10 (in fact 10 times out of 10) I don’t know the whole situation. And 11 times out of 10, I don’t need to know. It’s just none of my business. I don’t need to judge. Whether or not to separate is a decision that my approval is not needed or asked for. If people want to talk to me, I’ll listen. But I’ll just keep mum on it until then…

It’s a hot one today…

It’s barely one, and it looks like we’re already at 84 degrees. Some I’m at home. Not in my inner sanctum (my room), but I’m out in the living room, which is where our AC is at. I can’t watch my 55” TV, so I guess I have to settle for my brother’s 48” set. Oh, the indignities of life…

But things could be worse. I remember when the temperature hit 3 figures a couple of years ago, and there was no AC. And they were painting my building, so I had plastic over my window, making it even hotter. And as soo as the sun sets tonight, I can turn on the window fan, and my room will cool down…

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…