So, I just did a test…

Made an early morning trip to Wally World, and grabbed a Covid home test. And the results are negative. It’s just a cold. This time….

I hate being sick….

So, at the end of my weekend, I started feeling a headache. I thought it was caffeine withdrawal, since I’ve cut back on my coffee and my energy drinks. I could either self-medicate it, or I could go to bed early and sleep it off. I chose to sleep it off. After 8 hours of shut-eye, I woke up to a sore throat.. Showered, and then realized the body aches were trying to set in. And so I’ve called out from work tonight. Whatever it is, this is most likely just the beginning, and it’s most likely going to get worse. And once I get in to work, there’s really no way for me to get home (can’t even afford an Uber, and buses shut down for the night right when I get to work).

So sorry co-workers, it’s just not in the cards tonight.

Another weekend…

And another email that had to be sent. Not going to go into much detail here. Bills got paid. Laundry got washed. And I’ve watched 4 T20 matches. Yes the T20 World Cup is in full swing.

And now for the real farewell to my tower….

A couple of posts ago, I titled a post A farewell to my tower, but when I was writing it I got sidetracked writing about something else, and ultimately didn’t even touch the original subject. So what. Big deal.

Anyway, last week, I ordered a DVD (yes DVD and not Blu-Ray) set of the 3 Stooges. 17 DVDs with 25 years of their shorts. All from Spamazon. This is a story in and of itself. I had tried to order it a couple of weeks ago, but it was lost in shipment (which is odd since Spamazon uses their own delivery system). But they were good sports and refunded the order when I cancelled it. So I ordered it again. And it arrived Sunday. So Monday night (my night off), when I was redownloading my EA games library due to a botched migration from the origin app to the EA app, I thought I’d watch some shorts. For those of you keeping score, I disconnected my Blu-Ray player in favor of my old HP Pavilion 500-314. I had put a Blu-Ray drive in my tower previously, so I still had Blu-Ray capability. I went with this for streaming reasons. My ‘smart’ TV and Blu-Ray had basic streaming (ie Netflix, Hulu, Spamazon Prime…). But they didn’t have the new streaming services (like Discovery+, ESPN+, and what not). So I used my second tower and just streamed it through Chrome. And things were good. Logitech even makes a good wireless keyboard specifically for home theater PC’s. Problem was that this was still a full-sized tower, and the only place I could place it was behind the TV, and it was a pain to get up to turn it on, and/or change discs. And the end-of-life is coming for Windows 8.1 (it’s running currently 8.1 Pro with Media Center). Since I’ve set this up, things have changed. I can now stream all of my streaming services through my cable box. And it’s easier to reach for my cable remote than it is to get up, head behind the TV, physically turn on the tower, and then wait for it to boot up, open chrome, and then start streaming.

So, I unplugged the HDMI cable from the tower, and plugged the Blu-Ray player back in. And more importantly, I found the Blu-Ray remote. It is no longer a ‘smart’ Blu-Ray player (most of the apps on it are old, and have been pulled). But it still plays discs, and I still have a library.

So, I can get a couple of nyuks, one short at a time….

Saw the game today….

Well, from the time I saw it vs. when I’m writing this, it was actually yesterday….

The Mariners made it to the post-season this year. Last week, they played the Wild Card Series in Toronto, and because of my work schedules, I slept through them. And they won, sweeping the Toronto Blue Jays. So fast forward to yesterday afternoon, when they were playing the Houston Astros. It was during my weekend so I pulled an all-nighter to watch the game. And the Mariners lost. So, in order to give them the very best chance of taking a pennant and/or the World Series, I will never watch a Mariners post season baseball game again. I’m not boycotting them. It’s just I’m not going to jinx the team….

A farewell to my tower….

So, after I got my video card 2 weeks or so ago, I wiped everything last week. And tonight I finished it. Redownloaded almost all of my games, including my Spamazon, Steam, Epic, Origin (now EA), Ubisoft, and Gog libraries. Almost 7 Tb. And now I’m backing up my key files to an external hard drive. Some people use cloud backups, but in reality, the so-called ‘cloud’ is just somebody else’s computer. At least with an external drive, I’m not worrying about my cloud credentials getting compromised. And you can’t get hacked if your drive is powered down.

Origin has switched to EA. Basically,the Origin app is going away, and your EA Games library will be played through the EA app. After downloading the entire library through the Origin app, I tried to switch to the EA app, but on the first attempt, it was requiring updates to my entire library. Which took forever to download, and install. I had to redownloaded everything. Again. But I got it to work, and more importantly, it kept me busy on my days off…

So I finally got m y birthday presents….

So, my birthday was a month and change ago. My sister got my brother and I tickets to Whose Live Is It Anyway. We saw the show this past Saturday. Greg Proops can not pronounce Puyallup. My brother paid for the Uber to/from the Fair, and also for the Earthquake Burger. Normally, I’d just buy the big present myself. I grew up in a not-so-well-to-to house, and I don’t want to break somebody else’s bank. But still, I appreciate what I got this year. It’s the thought that counts first. And seeing the show live and a Really Large Onion Cheeseburger aren’t all that bad.

SO last week, I took a look at my finances, and saw that they were in sufficient order that I decided to get myself something special. An AMD Radeon RX6600 CLD 8G. Unlike my previous card, this one was not DOA from Newegg (though props to them for the quick and painless replacement of that one).

I built this tower in June of 2019. Since then, the only part that I haven’t replaced is my TV Tuner card. Yes, it’s a work in progress….

Just chillin’

I’m just chilling out right now. The over night lows are starting to get into the ‘40s (fahrenheit if you’re keeping score at home). When I ran the AC, only the fan ran. It was too cool for the compressor to kick on. So, tonight I’ve taken down the AC hose, and I’ve put my window fan back in. I figure in a couple of weeks, the fan will be taken down, and I’ll close the window until spring….

Didn’t go to work tonight….

So, yesterday was my Grandmother’s birthday. And so we had a family reunion. Lots of fun. Good food. But it was right in the middle of when I should’ve been sleeping. I know what my priorities are. So, I booked the night off. And I got it. So I have the night off.

In memory of Mother, I brought a two liter of strawberry soda. There’s a story behind this. When we were growing up in Graham, mom bought a bottle of it from the local Safeway. Somehow on the car ride home, it got shaken. All I’m going to say is that I didn’t do it. Any how, it gets home, and she opened it. And I think to this day, there’s a stain on the ceiling from it.

So, I brought it as a throwback my siblings and I to remember she who could be at the family gathering anymore….

Russell was back....

What a way to start your weekend. With a Seahawks game on Monday night. He got booed. The same treatment that Mark Langston got when he left the Mariners. It went down to the wire, bite in the end the Seahawks won on the last play. When Denver chose to pull Russell Wilson for a kicker to make a 64 yard kick (with a only 1 in 8 chance of making it). Ave there are also the red zone fumbles. Denver, you're supposed to score with the ball, not give it back to us.... 

The Seahawks won the game. By one point. Russell Wilson will need a booster seat for the flight home, after he was handed his ass. 

More fun with public transportation….

Got to the bus stop on time tonight. I had seen on the Onebusaway that my bus was a little late, but I still have to try…So I get to the bus stop, and it keeps getting later and later. To the point that I’m now going to miss my connection in Tacoma to get to work. So I’ve called out. Again. There were no notifications of a missed trip or detour for this run.

But this isn’t the only time recently that Pierce Transit has dropped the ball. There is ongoing construction going on in Downtown Tacoma that is requiring detours for every downtown Tacoma route. And there are no maps, no guidelines, nor are there any clearly marked stops. Fortunately, I found that out on the way home (rather than coming in). So I’ve been making connection outside of downtown Tacoma. But tonight, I can’t make it there at all….

Sorry co-workers. The spirit is willing. But Pierce Transit isn’t having any of it…

The last day…

This is the last day (night) of my vacation. It was also my birthday today. Got all the well-wishes on Facebook.  I tried to respond to each one. This is even better than any birthday party for me. One of the things I’ve learned is that friendship is a far more precious thing than anything material.

But having said that, I’m going to see Whose Live Is It Anyway at the Puyallup Fair this year. Thank you Karen.

The agenda for tonight is get ready for my return to work tomorrow night. Which basically means putting my suspenders back on my jeans. And turning on my alarms again.

The price of global warming….

The way the household finances in my apartment work out, I brother gives me a lump sum when it’s time to pay the rent, and I take care of all the bills (he includes his share of the utilities with his rent). So last night, the electric bill arrived. I new it wasn’t going to be cheap since we’re running 2 portable AC’s and I think we’re on heat wave #3. Even still, it was shocking. About twice of what it was last month. But I still paid it. So, my apartment will still be comfortable for the time being.

This global warming thing ain’t cheap….

I was toying around with the idea of getting back onto Usenet, but after this month’s bills, it’s just going to be an idea….

A Late Vacation Day 4 Update:

I was so successful at doing nothing that I didn’t remember to write about doing nothing…. Oops. But rest assured, I spent all day either napping or sitting on my ass. The most strenuous thing I did was to sign in to YouTube on my TV (actually the cable box) to watch the Mariners games.

Vacation Day 3 Report:

After realizing that Colbert and Seth Meyers were in reruns this week, I took another 4 hour nap. So, I was successful in doing nothing last night (I didn’t even get all the way through Battle Red Snapper). This morning would’ve been a trip to Wally World, but I realized that I only needed bread, and it wasn’t worth the bus trip. So I went across the street to Saar’s for that.

Tomorrow’s agenda: nothing. No plans whatsoever. Just chilling at home…

Chairman Kaga is still wearing pants….

So while at lunch with my sister, somehow Iron Chef came up in the conversation. Not Iron Chef USA or Iron Chef America, but the original Japanese version. Apparently it is available on Pluto TV (as a whole ‘channel’ even).

I’ve never watched Pluto TV before. It appears to be completely ad-supported, just like regular broadcast TV. I can deal with that. So I’m now watching Battle Red Snapper.

And Chairman Kaga is wearing pants in this battle….

Vacation Update, Day 2:

Took a four hour nap last night. Which is why I’m still up right now. My sister came by, and we went out to lunch at Red Robin. Apparently she had intended to pay, but per my habit I had already paid for the meal (Red Robin now has a terminal at each table so you can settle your check right then and their). We then went to Sumner specifically to 7-11 to visit with my old boss form Mrs. Fields. A stop at Safeway on the way home (I wanted to look at their deli, bought the line was too long and prices too high).

So, I’m going to bed soon. For day 3, the agenda is currently just stream and chill….

Edit: I should also add that today is my 5 year anniversary with my current employer. And yes, I did plan my vacation deliberately so that I’d be off on both my work anniversary and my birthday. It’s good to have a job, and if the job has paid vacation, then it’s good to use it…

Vacation Day 1 Report, The Final Edition...

Didn't even make that snack run to 7-11. Ordered some groceries and  had then delivered. Ave played some Flight Stimulator. Watched since more of The Hundred.

And now to retire. Goodnight... 

Vacation Day 1 Report:

Did almost absolutely nothing last night. Finished rebuilding my computer after my experiment with Windows 11. The time will come for me to upgrade to it, but not now. Did laundry, did dishes, and took out garbage. Maybe a snack run to 7-11 later, but I think I’m staying indoors today. A vacation is about resting and doing as little as possible. I shall try my hardest at that…

Vacation: Commence!

A couple of months ago, I booked some vacation time. And it was promptly approved. Initially, I asked for three days off (plus my two day weekend would make 5 days off). A month later, I realized that I could take an extra day. So, I booked it. And again it was promptly approved. So now it’s 6 days off. And it now begins. First off, I’m watching a The Hundred match. And then, it will be off to do as little as possible…

Vacation: Commence!

It worked. Big deal…

So when we last left our hero, I had decided to finally install Windows 11. It worked. I was satisfied with it. But there were a couple of things. Through the use of Winaero Tweaker, I was able to restore the Windows 8/10 ribbon to my windows, and bring back the context menu. And with Open Shell, I was able to restore the Windows 10 taskbar. And then it occurred to me that I was looking for Windows 10 features, so I should probably just go back to Windows 10. So I did.

Don’t get me wrong, Windows 11 works just fine. But I prefer Windows 10 more….

Not going to deal with it tonight….

Got up on time to go to work. Got dressed. Drank coffee. Put pants on. Left for work on time. Got to the bus stop. Waited. And waited. And waited. Still, no bus. By this time, I would’ve most likely missed my connection in downtown Tacoma to get to work. And I’m not going to deal with the hassle (it happened last fall, and I ended up having to take an uber back home). Uber is out of the question (too expensive, and I’m not spending an entire day’s pay just to get to work).

Long story short, I’m calling out tonight. The spirit was willing, but the Pierce Transit wasn’t there…

So far, so good.

I’m now underway on Windows 11. All of my hardware installed without any major problems. Even my problematic wireless game controllers. There were a couple of bugs features that I dealt  with via some judicious tweaking. There are a couple of others that, while annoying, I can live with for the time being.

With any luck, I’ll be able to just stick with one version, and not constantly switch between 10 nd 11…

Here we go!

This is why I upgraded the processor a while back. I am now clean installing Windows 11.

*posting this from my phone... 

Yes, it’s been a while….

Yes, it’s been a while since I’ve written here. Sometimes in life you go through it, get caught up in the moment, and in the end, there is nothing going on that is worth writing about. It’s important, but I’ve written about it before, or to write about it would be TMI….

My vacation is in a little less than two weeks. After I had the original days approved, I realized that I would have enough PTO for an extra day, which I booked and my boss approved. So I have that to look forward to.

Got my haircut last week. So I’ve gone from rockstar long to Marine Boot Camp. And since I got right at the start of last week’s heat wave I felt much more comfortable than before. There is nothing like having all of your hats fit again…

Rebuilt my system a couple of weeks ago. Wiped everything. Reinstalled everything from scratch (as in I redownloaded all of my games from GOG, Ubisoft, and Origin as well as Steam, Spamazon, and Epic). And now Flight Stimulator X keeps crashing every time I try to fly it. So back to the old drawing board….

Pissed off a Door Dasher Monday Night…

Got home from work Monday. Immediately ordered for delivery from Target. Arrived without any issues. Now, Target uses Shipt. Basically, you place your order through Target.com, and the delivery driver will go to the store and shop the order for you. If there out of something, they’ll text you in real-time to find a sub. I’ve never had a problem with the serivce. In fact, I alway give a minimum of a 20% tip.

At the same time, I also ordered for a delivery from Wally World. They do delivery orders differently. When you place the order, it is ‘shopped’ by a store employee, and then staged for the delivery driver, usually DoorDash. They were booked up for deliveries (it was the Fourth, after all), so I booked it for the evening, between 9-10. At 9:15, I was notified that the driver was underway. At 9:39, the order was updated to indicate that it was delivered. It wasn’t. I went back to my computer, logged in and saw that it was indicating that it had already been delivered. So I left a one star rating reflecting non-delivery and cancelled my tip. Of course, it showed up right after I did this. Was I over-reacting? Possibly. But then again I had the same issue with UPS and my cell phone this spring. I guess it boils down to accountability. Don’t say that you’ve done the task until you’ve actually done it. If I pulled that stunt at work, it would not bode well for me.

So, I pissed off a Door Dasher. And don’t order same day delivery from Wally World.

Summer begins…

Summer began yesterday. In western Washington, Summer always begins the day after the Fourth. For some reason it always rains on the Fourth. We should sunny weather until the Hydroplane Races, where it will rain. Then, the sun will resume until the day before my birthday, as it always rains on my birthday. It will actually be several days of rainy weather, as not only will it be my birthday, but I will be on vacation as well, and it rains even worse when I have the day off….

Happy Anniversary. Kinda…

5 years ago I was fired. I’ve since moved on. Landed with my current employer (which btw I’ve spent more time at my current job than I spent at Home Depot). I’m not complaining about it anymore. Other than to say to my former co-workers that Pearl Harbor sucked…

‘Murica! F*ck Yeah!

Today is the Fourth. When we commemorate George Washington defeating Genghis Khan and Rodan. Most people tend to celebrate it by getting drunk and blowing themselves up. However, recent Supreme Court rulings have put a damper on it for some of us.  But I’ll save my comments on Abortion for later. Tonight, I’ll celebrate by watching the trained professionals blow themselves up on TV….

All done by 3 am….

So my weekend started Monday morning. And I usually end up spreading my essential errands over the entire weekend. This weekend was different. Got home. Immediately placed a delivery order for my groceries. Got them delivered and put away. Normally I dilly-dally around till mid to late afternoon (especially the past couple of weeks, when I was working on my computer). But Monday, I went to bed at my usual time for a worknight. Got up at  8. And then I decided to to laundry early. Had it done by midnight. Washed a few dishes. And all of my weekend errands were done by 3 am. Yesterday, I was going to go to lunch with Dad, but that plan fell through. My brother was going to reschedule it for today, but I wasn’t going to make it because of my work schedule (I call out from work way too much as it is)…

And then I spent the remaining day and a half really bored…

An arrival.

I think summer has finally arrived. It is now warm enough outside that I need the AC in  my room. Like I mentioned last week, it started working again. Had it not worked, my plan was to take the AC from the living room (which was Mom’s old portable unit, which also was given to me specifically when she passed).

Anyway, the door is closed, and the AC is on. Cooling season is upon us…

Finished for now….

Ok, at 1:30 this morning, I finished reinstalling everything on my computer, after the latest round of hardware upgrades. Now when I switch to Windows 11, I’ll be able to run Android apps under Windows.But I will run Windows 10 for now.

And more importantly, I’ll try to stop tinkering with what’s inside my computer. If it ain’t broke, then I shouldn’t try to fix it…

So, what all happened tonight?

I get up, jump in the shower, and then head out to work. Get on my first bus, and get off the bus in downtown Tacoma. Then I’m waiting for my connection to get me to work. That bus pulls up, and I start walking towards the shelter (it was rather crowded, and I wanted to keep a distance). The bus rolls up, and then rolls out, without completely stopping or opening the door. I missed the bus. And I can’t afford to Uber it to work (I had paid my bills Sunday night, and so my checking account was depleted). So I’ve called out. Don’t want to, but I had no choice.

Sorry, coworkers.

It works!

My portable AC died a couple of weeks ago. Unplugged it, plugged it back in. And it didn’t work. So I unplugged it for good, and used my old window fan (that my brother got me back in 2003 when we were living in Puyallup). The weather has been extremely cool of late, so it sufficed. At the time, by the time I got that situation straightened out, it was 5:30 in the afternoon, and there was no way that I was going to get any sleep (my alarm goes off at 7 on weeknights), so I preemptively called out of work. I am a firm believer in it’s better to be absent than be a zombie.

Fast forward to this morning. Computer rebuild is progressing, currently downloading all my Epic Games Store games (seriously, you can score some really good games for free from them). The new processor and heatsink are working (though I’m going to hold on to the old parts, as they still work)…. Anyway, it comes time to get ready for bed, and I thought why not try the air conditioner again. Plugged it in, and it turned on. So, I’ve set it back up again.

It still works. Which is good, as I can’t afford to replace it…

Solving one problem after another….

So, all the parts that I ordered 2 weeks ago arrived. And I put them in. And it has seemed like there has been one problem after another….

So last week, I put the new hard drive in and the other SSD. The hard drive wasn’t the issue at the time. Except for the fact that I knocked a couple of power cables looses, and when I turn the computer on I was two drives short. So I had to take the tower apart to plug them back in. And to install the SSD, since the motherboard’s design has a heatsink that covers them both, I had to take off my expansion cards to install it (not really that big of an issue as it was just a video card and my tv tuner). And M2 screws are tiny. Then came the cpu cooler (the ‘new’ cpu hadn’t arrived yet). I gave up on it. With the way it was designed, I figured the risk was too great that I would crack or damage my motherboard before I got it on….

EDIT: right after I gave up in this CPU cooler, I ordered a cheap one from Rosewill, which shipped from Newegg. I thought it was going to be a challenge to install it, but it turned out to be almost as easy as the Wraith Prism. And as an added bonus, my ‘new’ Ryzen 7 3800X is about 20 degrees cooler now. It doesn’t have an RGB set up like the other one, but I don’t need it. It does have a blue led on it, so I can see if it’s working.

So this week, I got the processor I ordered. Relatively quick and painless install. And then I turned the tower back on. Had to make a change in the BIOS. Ended up having to flash a new BIOS. But I finally got the processor installed. Then I came time to install Windows 10. So I put the tower back in its place, untangling the rat’s nest of usb cables. Plugged in the usb flash drive to install Windows, and when I selected the drive, I get another error.This one was easy. After a simple google search, I just pulled out the flash drive and plugged it back in, and I was able to proceed. The rest of the windows install was relatively quiet, except when it came time to set the account up. This time instead of entering your Microsoft credentials, or selecting an offline account (which is what I prefer, then I’ll sign in with my Microsoft account), it was asking for my homedreams.com.au account credentials. Which I obviously didn’t have. Solution: start the software installation over, but this time, unplug the network cable and once you get your offline account set up, then plug it back in.

The last problem I’ve so far was when I was installing my game controllers. I just needed to plug the USB hub into a different port…..

The moral of the story is that the more you upgrade your computer, the more likely you’re going to break it…

New? or Used?

Found a deal for a Ryzen 7 3800X. So I pulled the trigger. But it’s used. But hey, when I built my tower originally I used a not-new processor. But it’s still a generation better than what I’m running now (Ryzen 7 2700X). And I found a deal on Spamazon for a 8 TB hard drive. And if I’m going to buy a new CPU, I might as well upgrade the cooler, too. The Wraith Prism that came with the 2700X works well, but I wanted something heftier.

What this also means is that the PCIE 4.0 SSD that I bought last fall but I didn’t install will be getting installed. And my system will be ready for running Android apps in Windows 11, which I’ve already confirmed that I have a valid license for…

I guess my computer is getting some upgrades. And there are times when it makes sense to buy used…

Got around to taking a trip…

(Quick recap)

About a year ago, the Mrs. Fields I worked at closed, as  the owner wanted to move on, and he bought a 7-11 in Sumner. And he routinely gets on my case to visit him.

(/Quick recap)

So a few weeks back, I proposed a gentleman’s bet with him over an IPL match. We chose teams and whosever team lost, that person would buy the coffee. I lost. So I had to come down to Sumner. While there is bus service to Sumner, it is essentially limited to the Sumner Sounder Station, and where his 7-11 is located is about an hours’ walk from it. So, it’s an Uber to get there….

Come Monday morning, I got off work, and got on a different bus home. This one went to Puyallup. Got off in Puyallup, ordered my Uber. $20 bucks. Actually $25 since I tip. And I got out there. And bought a coffee. From Starbucks. And we talked. He tried to get me to work for him. Hard Pass. I like him as a friend, but the location is a major issue. I would seriously consider it if I could get a bus out there. Anyway, it was time to go. I ordered an Uber to go home. $30+ (again I always tip). He gave me $20 to cover part of my costs, and a cookie. The cookie was disappointing (26+ years at Mrs. Fields did that)…

It’s good to visit my friend. However, due to the expense involved, it is not something I can do every week. But rest assured, I will be back.

So I sent an email a couple of weeks ago…

So I sent T-Mobile an Executive Email Carpet Bomb a few weeks ago (normally this would be to Sprint, but as we all know, Sprint and T-Mobile have merged) regarding my issues with my phone rebate. There was a meeting of the heads, and after explicitly explaining to them why there will be no phone calls (all correspondence in writing, something to do with this). And so after a day or so, I got a reply that they were putting the discount back on my discount. I actually got it twice. The first time was from the email. The second time was from the Twitter dm thread that I was also trying at the time to straighten it out with (I sent a copy of the email to them as a ‘Hail Mary’ attempt. It worked as well).

So, I just got my bill. It has my phone installment at $50.00/month. Plus the $33.33/month trade-in credit. Plus 2 $33.33/month courtesy credits, one from the twitter dm, and one from the executive email. Now a part of me said to say nothing and enjoy the phone for free + 50 in bill credits, but eventually it’ll get found out, and it won’t be pleasant. Besides, integrity is a two-way street. If I’m going to hold T-Mobile to their terms, then I have to hold myself to them as well. So I sent another email asking to take two of the discounts off.

Today’s lesson is Honesty is the Best Policy.

May the Schwartz be with you…

May 4th today. May the Schwartz be with you.

So T-Mobile has now decided that they didn’t receive my phone in time, and the promo that I was using had expired before I received it. I ordered it on Feb 19th (the promo ended on the 24th). I made my first payment that day. The phone shipped on the 26th, and arrived on the 2dn of March. I shipped my old phone on March 8th, and it arrived on Mar 11th. Last Thursday, I received a text from T-Mobile indicating that they didn’t receive my old phone, and that the deal was off. Yesterday, I spent too much time chatting online with Sprint's customer service, and playing twitter dm tag with T-mobile trying to get this figured out. Finally, last night, I saw that most of T-Mobile’s executives are on Twitter, and from my previous experience I know that T-Mobile executives have a firstname.lastname(at)t-mobile.com formula, I sent out an Executive Email Carpet Bomb. Maybe they’ll get the point. Maybe not. If that’s the case, there’s always the state attorney general’s office…

No Wally World Run Today…

I was going to go to Wally World this morning. But I realized I needed more than one day without shoes, and I really didn’t need anything at this time. Remember, I still have a blister on my foot. And besides, Target delivers. As does Wally World….

Begin: Weekend….

Yes, it’s been a while:

My USB hub died. Not really, but it would cut out whenever I plugged in the electrical cord. Found a replacement, but there was some reorganization neccasary since I had to go from a 10 port to a 7 port. Ended up retiring a game controller, but the wireless one that I bought when I thought I needed to replace it will work well. And it turns out that I had a cable plugged into it that went no where (it was for a printer that now connects wirelessly)….

One or more of my shoes has given me a blister. So this weekend will be ‘shoes off’ with the exception of my Wally World run tomorrow morning. I’ve already had my Target run delivered (and they shorted me on a 12 pack of Diet Dr. Pepper)….

Calling Accuweather’s bluff….

According to Accuweather, Friday is going to hit 74. They were right with the windstorm, so I’m going to call their bluff, and I’ve set up the AC in my room already. Along with this, I decided to clear the junk off of my easy chair, and around said chair. I’ve:

• found the Seattle Kaken hat that my sister got me for Christmas.
• found my Festivus stocking cap that’s been missing for 5 years.
• Discovered 3 sets of headphones, most of which were impulse bought at  Worst Buy, and they’re going in the trash.
• found whole shitload of usb cables. Into the Drawer with them.
• discovered some cheap Home Depot swag from when I worked there. The fact that I dug them from behind the chair shows how much I used them. Trashed.
• found most of my missing socks. Into the laundry basket.
• Discovered a package of beef jerky from a shopping trip last fall. It was unopened, so I have no doubt as to it’s fitness for consumption. But still, into the trash…

And I just went through the Drawer, too. Cleared out:

• The original 56k modem that my first Gateway came with.
• The RAM from the computer that replaced the Gateway.
• A very old tablet.
• Various and Sundry cases to phones that are no longer used.
• Miscellaneous video cables. I’ve now realized that most monitors will supply the cables that you need…
• A manual to a joystick that I wish I still had…
• The manual to Combat Flight Simulator. The original one. I still have the game.
• At least one cable remote. In 2015, my brother and I went to the X1 system, and this remote was from the previous box. And Xfinity at the time said that they were now free. I now have three X1 compatible remotes in my room (they give you a new one every time you replace your box, and apparently they aren’t to keen on them being returned.

And lastly, I pitched the wireless charger I got a few weeks ago. I got it because it was advertised as charging both my phone and my buds wirelessly at the same time. But I could never get it to work. It would charge for a few minutes, then flash ‘error’. I’m not complaining to Newegg about it, since they went above and beyond with their customer service when UPS decided to fuck up the delivery. The second that they shipped me is still in the shipping box, and will probably be given away at Christmas. As for me, I found another charger at Spamazon, and it works even better.

Now to go throw out the two bags of garbage….

Power went out yesterday. Twice….

So Saturday night, I get a high wind warning from the Accuweather app on my phone. And it was accurate. Power went out twice here. I went to bed at about 1:30 after putting away my grocery order from Wally World (an adventure in and of itself). At about 5:30, I woke up with the power out. Got up, and came out to the sight of my brother finishing off the last of a tray of cinnamon rolls that I had just bought that day. Fifteen minutes later the power came back on and I went back to bed. Evidently the power went back out while I was sleeping as I was woken up by my nightstand fan turning back on when the power came back on. The storm has passed, so I don’t think it’ll go out again. But now is also a good time to make sure my gadgets are fully charged (namely my 30,000 miliamp powerbank)…

Had to replace my mouse. I had noticed in the past weeks that my primary ‘click’ button was inadvertently double-clicking when I wanted to single-click. Probably a dirty contact switch. But with the way the mouse (Logitech G604) is built it is not very feasible to take it apart to clean it. However, it was on sale at the Logitech website, so I ordered another one….

All I’m going to say about the brouhaha between Will Smith and Chris Rock is that they’re both wrong. Chris Rock was wrong to joke about somebody’s medical condition. And Will Smith was wrong to resort to violence over it…

And it’s over…

Australia just won the match. It took an entire vacation, but I’ve now watched a Test Cricket match from first delivery to the final wicket.

And I still have a T20 attention span…

The Last Day Of My Vacation.

And I’m currently watching the last session of the third Test between Australia and Pakistan. It looks like Australia will win this one. I also finished rebuilding my computer, which I started when I got home from work Sunday morning. And this time, I’ve made sure to do a back up of my start menu shortcuts (which is why I had to do it, the ones that weren’t in a folder disappeared). Did my laundry last night, so I don’t have to worry about it.

Next weekend’s agenda has been set. I’m setting up my Air Conditioner again. It’s just the beginning of Spring, but I have a westward facing window in my room, and it’s beginning to get rather warm in my room in the afternoon, when I should be sleeping. I could open my window, but Pacific Avenue is a rather noisy place during the day.

But tomorrow it’s back to work. For only 3 days, then back to my regularly scheduled programming….

Vacation Day 4: Report…

Ok, when I started my vacation Sunday morning, I placed a delivery order from Wally World. I placed a drinks from 7-11 via UberEats Tuesday night. And today I’ve just placed another delivery from Target. There are added costs for delivery, but the trade-off is that I can stay home.

Saw day 4 of the Australia vs Pakistan test last night. Between the lunch break and the tea break (yes, in cricket they stop play for tea), I did my laundry for the week.

And I continued reinstalling my software. Wednesday I installed my Origin and my Epic Games. And I cheated. Since I have multiple hard drives & they were being installed to separate drives, I was able to multitask and install them both simultaneously. Last night, I tried that with my Amazon and Ubisoft games. Didn’t go over as well. Several crashes and 1 Blue Screen Of Death. But I got them reinstalled. Next up it was my GOG games library. And now I’m currently downloading my Steam games….

Vacation Day 3: Report

Watched day 3 of the Pakistan/Australia test. Just for the record, I did not know the Test match was scheduled when I booked the vacation. It was just a coincidence. But this was one of my many ‘bucket list’ items: to watch a Test cricket match from start to finish…

I would’ve written this post this morning, but a nap attack and some computer problems led to me retiring early.

As for my computer problems, it just became slow. Nothing would respond. First instinct was to reboot it. But I just had a nap attack, so I was going to bed. So I just turned it off (through windows). And it hung on the shutdown screen. And hung. And hung. So I used the reset button on my tower, which normally overrrides whatever the OS is doing and reboots the motherboard/system. And then I got the ‘no OS’ error from the motherboard. Pulled out my Windows 10 thumbdrive, and attempted a startup repair. No dice. Rebooted into BIOS to boot directly into my SSD (where windows was installed), and my drive wasn’t even there. And then, on a hunch, I turned it off completely. Counted to 3 then turned it back on. And it worked. Installed the latest update from Windows Update, turned it off and went back to bed. Moral of the story: the ‘reset’ button on my tower has it’s uses, but I’m better using the power switch if I need to hard shutdown my system….

My agenda for day 4 of my vacation: Day 4 of the test match.

Vacation Day 3….

It’s starting to get warm here. A sign of the arrival of spring. I think the AC might be getting set up shortly, as I have difficulty sleeping when it’s warm. Got up today and I did not order Uber Eats straight out of bed (a necessity as most restaurants close right when I wake up). It’s a good thing as my brother decided that it was Spaghetti night. He may not believe it, but he is a good cook. Then again I also make it a point to not complain about cooking if I didn’t cook it….

Tonight, it will be day 3 of Pakistan vs. Australia Test 3.

Happy Pakistan Day to those inclined to celebrate it…

Vacation Day 2: Report….

Watched day 2 of Australia vs. Pakistan, Test 3. Well for the most part. I lost cable service during the second session.

I also fixed the issue with my computer losing the desktop icons ( and all the control panel applets). What I did was to simply start off with the previous version of Windows 10. Then I applied my tweaks (using winaero tweaker). And when the icons disappeared, I simply upgraded to the current version, which restored the missing icons…

Vacation Day 1: Report

Saw day one of the Test match between Australia and Pakistan. And I trekked the wrong setting on my computer. System restore hung on me. But I've got backups. But this also means back to square 1. Oh well. I guess I'm ocd that way. It had to be done exactly right, or I'm not going to halt about it.... 

Vacation: Commence!

So a couple of weeks ago (more like 3 or so), I decided I needed some time off. So I went to personnel, sat down at a computer, and booked 3 days off. And two hours later, it was approved. So here I am, with 3 days off in addition to my weekend. And I'm starting it with binge watching Discovery+....

And I should add that I'm writing this from my phone. For reasons, I wiped my computer... 

Day 5, Session 3

Australia vs. Pakistan. It's day 5, session 3 with 10 overs and change to go. Who knew Test cricket could be so thrilling? 

Beware The Idiots Of March!

It is March 15 today. In an presidential election year, this is when primaries are starting, and so you see all the candidates. Hence beware the idiots of march. It’s just the mid-terms this year, Chances are that DC will still remain another partisan farce. So I’m just going to cast my ballot in 6 months and resume changing the channel whenever something political comes on….

So, after my last post, I stayed up all day, tracking my delivery in real time. At about 6:30 pm, my package status was ‘delivered’. I use that term closely because according to real-time tracking, the UPS truck was in the apartment complex right next to me. My roommate (brother) was out in our apartment parking lot taking a smoke break, and he never saw the UPS van. Needless to say, I was not happy. And T-Mobile still has piss-poor customer service. Went to UPS, and they told me to go pound sand. Finally, I went to the Sprint website, and found someone with a clue. They told me to file a police report, par for the course for a $1300 cell phone. So I called the non-emergency number, and they told me I could file the report online. So I did, and went to bed. Woke up to an email from the Pierce County Sherriff with a case number. And my phone. It was delivered. A day after it was marked as delivered. And after I reported it to the police. So I let UPS know that. After another chat with Sprint to make sure that it was kosher, I activated it.

And to think the previous week, I had a UPS delivery with no issues. You’d think that this would be a one time occurrence, but l ordered a wireless charger from Newegg last week, and they shipped brown. Guess what. UPS says it was left at my doorstep, but it wasn’t. My brother was waiting for a shipment himself, and there was no knock at the door. Newegg has my claim, and there is now an investigation. Hopefully a UPS driver gets fired over this…

Arriving tomorrow…

My new phone arrives tomorrow. I already have 3 cases and I’ve ordered an OtterBox for it as well. And since this phone doesn’t have a headphone jack, I ordered a set of Samsung Galaxy Buds Pro wireless headphones. They support wireless charging. But my wireless chargers won’t work with them (because they’re cradles and not lie flat). But another trip into The Drawer found the original wireless charger that I first bought when I originally got the Note 9 (also happens to be Samsung branded…). Yes it’s an older charger, but it still works…

I think a nap is in order so I can stay up all day to wait for the UPS guy…

Cousin got married Sunday…

My cousin got married on Sunday. My brother and myself were invited. Neither of us could attend (myself being because I had to burn all my remaining vacation time when I had to call out from work for the Christmas day snowstorms). But there were registered at Spamazon so I got the wedding presents taken care of. And I did privately congratulate her. Especially since she got married on what would’ve been Mother’s 75th birthday.

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

Replacing it after only 3 weeks…

If you remember, I recently went from my Motorola Razr 2020 back to my Samsung Galaxy Note 9. As of this writing, it is still supported (as in still getting updates). It is also still for sale (currently listed on various and sundry websites for about $400 and change). T-Mobile currently is having a promo wherein you can get about $800 off your next Samsung Galaxy S22 Ultra. So trade in my old phone (currently retailing for $400) for $800 off my new phone.  Some of these decisions just make themselves. So I’ve pre-ordered a Galaxy S22 Ultra, and I will be trading in my Galaxy Note 9.

This is why I always invest in a case for my phone. Cracked screens just kill resale/trade-in value…

Tax Refund Arrived Tonight…

Tax refund arrived tonight. And it’s already gone. It’s the day before payday, and I had bills that were already budgeted to be paid out of it. I just got an early start on it….

Second day of my weekend here. Stayed home all day. Got up for 4 hours. And then took a 4 hour nap. Hopefully I won’t oversleep for work tonight…

Had to buy a new watch….

So Saturday night, I was getting ready for work, and I put my watch on. And the strap broke. I had another one, but it was a cheap Wally World model that I didn’t even remember how to reset. I needed something simple. Just something to look down at when I’m at work to see if it’s time for lunch and/or breaks (state law requires them, and current employer is very fastidious about us taking them). So I have to buy a new watch. Due to the f*cked up bus schedules, I only use the bus for wither work or to go to the Spanaway Wally World. And I just spent over $200 at that Wal-Mart yesterday to have my grocery order delivered. Well I may have to bite the bullet and go shopping. I was thinking of where I could go, and I realized that Dad gave me a Spamazon gift card for Christmas this year, and that’s where I could order it. So, I’m saved a trip that I don’t really want to take. And considering where I could’ve gone, I can avoid relapsing on certain obsessions that are best given a wide berth…

BTW, my tax refund has been approved. I should arrive this week…

About tonight….

If you remember that one night when I had a hypoglycemic episode right when I woke up for work…. Well:

Last night/during today (remember I sleep during the day), I was getting up to pee every two hours. Normally that’s a clear as day sign that my blood sugar was way too high. So, I took an insulin shot to correct it and went back to bed. About 10 minutes before my alarm was to go off, I woke up sweating profusely and confused (like I couldn’t clear the notifications on my phone confused). Normally that’s a hallmark of my sugar levels being too low (most likely I overshot my insulin dose). However I couldn’t put 2 and 2 together owing to the aforementioned confusion. 10 minutes later, my alarm went off. So I snoozed it, turned over and went back to sleep (normally I snooze it for a half hour, something I factor in when I set my alarm). Three hours later, I woke up. I had already missed my bus, and I was about 10 minutes out from missing the last bus of the night, and I wasn’t going to be able to cycle from deep asleep to out the door in that time. Uber is out of the question (too expensive), so I called out for tonight.

Normally when I call out from work, I keep radio silence online, but I thought I’d post this tonight. Sorry, coworkers….

New phone at work…

So I was issued a new cell phone at work. It will be replacing all of our hand-held terminals, our walkie-talkies, and our time clocks. Most of what I need to do on it I can already do on my existing Galaxy Note 9 via the app that I’ve downloaded from Google Play. But they said that this new phone is now part of our work uniforms, so I will have to keep it on me.

In case you’re wondering its a Samsung Galaxy Pro Xcover. It actually hasn’t been activated with regular service yet (it only works on wi-fi). We are allowed to install our own apps on it, and if we want to, we can also activate our own service on it. I had it on my home w-fi Sunday morning to update some apps on it and I wasn’t too thrilled with some of the location tracking settings on it. Needless to say, as soon as I clock out, it gets turned off, and it’ll be turn on when I clock in the next day…

This is the way…

Just saw the finale of The Book Of Boba Fett. Spoilers follow:

• Who knew that the real villain was William Shatner?
• Epic, gratuitous full frontal nudity!
• When Jesse Pinkman and Walter White show up, rig a bomb, and it blows off half of Moff Gideon’s face.
• The sing-a-longs. Let It Go is best sung in Tusken.

Of course I’m not really going to spoil it. Just watch it. Then again, I will tell you how it ends:

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

The Credits Roll…

Render Unto Ceaser, 2022 Edition

Did my taxes just now. Filed online. Did it for free with Cash App (used to do it through Credit Karma, but they sold their online tax filing business). IRS has already accepted it. Hooray…

3 hours or so ago….

Weekend is underway here. When I got up, I went to the grocery store. Awfully expensive just for a couple of items (just a couple of grab-and-go plates from the Chinese counter, a pack of sandwiches from the deli, diet beverages, and Full Throttle) came to $30. No late nite TV tonight. Tonight Showis preempted by the Olympics (which given China’s human rights record, I will not be watching), and The Late Show is on vacation. So, I decided to be productive tonight. Laundry needs to be done. Wento the kitchen to get the Tide and the Downy. Saw all the dirty dishes. Washed them. Needed a cup coffee (notwithstanding the Full Throttle from earlier). Brewed and drank said cup of coffee. Then I realized that the pants I was wearing needed to be washed, too. And I needed a shower. And I was hungry again. One thing led to another. And finally 20 minutes ago, I started the wash cycle.

It’s my day off. You can tell since it took three hours to finally start something I decided to do…. Later on will be a trip to Wally World to finish my grocery shopping and another vial of insulin. Further bulletins as events warrant….

A step back, but forward….

Last fall I dropped my phone at work. It still worked, but it took a divot out of the display. It wasn’t really noticeable, but it was still there. And finally last night, I decided to do something about it. I finally dug through the Drawer and pulled out my Samsung Galaxy Note 9. Went online to T-Mobile and activated it. Well, the phone was activated on my account, but if you remember when I got it, it was a Sprint phone. And since I originally got the phone, there was a merger, and Sprint’s network finally got canned. But a 20 minute walk to the T-Mobile store and a SIM card swap later, I was good to go.

Now this is a 3 year old phone, so it’s not the latest and greatest, especially when it comes to battery life. But I’ve got two power banks, and this phone supports wireless charging (and I never threw out my wireless chargers). And this phone supports iris scanning instead of facial scanning, which means I can still wear a mask while authenticating (and also while wearing gloves).

It’s a step back. But it’s also a step forward…. At least until I pay off the Razr. And I might stick with this phone for a while after that. After all, it does have a separate headphone jack….

First time in 2 months…

I wiped my computer Monday. All the previous times I did it, it seemed like there were issues that always crept up, and ultimately it would take my multiple tries. This time, it only took one attempt. But still it won’t be until well into next week that I’ll be done reinstalling everything….

Once again, if it ain’t broke then stop trying to fix it…

If you’re ubering Uni Teriyaki….

Day 2 of my weekend here. Did my Wally World run (normally I’d prefer delivery, but you can only get insulin in person). Came home and then decide to uber in. And I ubered Uni Teriyaki. Ate the gyoza right away, but I got full before I could tuck into the chicken and beef teriyaki. So it went into the fridge. Got up tonight, and threw it into the microwave. If you’re ubering Uni Teriyaki, it does ‘nuke’ very well.

And if you’re keeping score at home, Uni Teriyaki is a teriyaki place right by the PLU campus….

So one of my friends has a blog....

 First of all, it's my weekend once again. Went to bed early, and I got up early. Early enough to Uber in from the Mexican place right by my house. And then I realized I could pick it up myself and save the delivery fee and tip. So I went for the pick up option. 5 minutes later, before I could put my pants on, my phone beeped that the order was ready. But I still took my time getting dressed. The cooks at El Toro are very good at making sure everything is adequately cooked (to the point of Old Testament Style: served while the pillar of smoke rises to The Holy One). So I go, get my Mexican ate half of it right away, the other half went into the fridge).

So, on to the rest of my 'day' off. One of my friends on Facebook has started his own blog here. I highly recommend you go read it...

Thought about wiping my system completely this week, but if it ain't broke, and you're only going to end up back in the same configuration, then there's no point. I am however spending the next 18+ hours backing everything up to my external hard drive...

Should Auld Acquaintance Be Forgot, 2021 Late Edition…

Well, 2021 ended a couple of days ago. I was in the middle of the work week, so I couldn’t write this post on New Years’ Eve, as I am want to:

• Grandma Bryant died in January. Due to Covid, the Celebration of Life wasn’t until the Big Bryant Family Reunion on Christmas Eve. Which I didn’t go to (due to aforementioned Covid), but they set up a Google Meet call, so I could attend virutally. A couple of other cousins ‘remoted in’ as well. Got to use my really expensive web cam.
• My Tower’s power supply went, and I upgraded my hard drives, while I was replacing it as well.
• A few months later, I fried my motherboard, and I replaced the whole lot. I also had to replace my boot SSD. Basically a new computer.
• One of the hard drives I ‘upgraded’ turned out to be a dud.
• The Mrs. Fields closed. So, I guess I only have one job now.
• Got Covid. Recovered from same. Got vaccinated. And boosted. I highly recommend the vaccine. Covid is not something to be taken lightly.
• Got a job offer, and I had to pass on it.
• 5 pairs of shoes and counting.
• Added a second monitor.

Of course there was the January 6 insurrection, Betty White’s passing, Bob Dole’s passing, the Chauvin verdict (guilty), the Arbery verdict (guilty), Biden getting sworn in, Windows 11 coming out (stick with Windows 10 for now), Jon Madden’s passing, and whole other shit-load of stuff.2021 is behind us. On to 2022.

So I took a month off….

I took a month off from blogging. Stuff happened. But life gets hectic, and there were times when I was writing here just for the sake of writing:

• Bought some new feet. Went with Sketchers all the way. Hey, they fit, and my feet aren’t protesting.
• Christmas came and went. My older sister drew my name, and I told her ‘cheap and tacky’. She gave me a Seattle Kraken hat. And 8 cans of SPAM. And I’ve already eaten one of them…
• Stopped ordering Domino’s pizza. All it takes is one botched delivery order, and a we’re already closed attitude…
• There were some issues at work. We were shorthanded, and most of it fell on me. Not going to say anymore about this, but I will say that the Manager does read his email, and I did come very close to summarily resigning….

Arbery Verdict In…

Not necessarily guilty as charged for all three parties. But enough guilty verdicts, especially on the murder charges, to insure that these 3 good ol’ boys remain in prison for life. At the most Arbery was guilty of criminal trespass. In fact, as a police officer testified he would’ve just received a warning. At the most it would’ve been a citation. Not a capital offense.

We’ve got a long way to go to combat institutional racism in this country. This is only a step. We have much to go…

Day 1 of 3….

Because of the way my work schedule is written, I have three days off this week. My normal weekend, plus the overnight shift is not coming in on Wednesday night (because Thanksgiving), means I get a three day weekend.

Now let’s see if I can go this entire ‘weekend’ without f*cking up my computer….

All Done!

Just finished the last of my Christmas shopping. Normally I put it off till the very last weekend before Christmas (just to make it a more sporting experience), but lessons learned from working in retail tell me to get it done now, and not have that stress right before Christmas. Besides with shipping and supply chain issues, it’s better this way…

It packs a wallop!

Like I last posted, I got my COVID booster on Tuesday. Got it at 11. By midnight, the fever was so bad that I went to bed (which for me is in the middle of the day). I was feeling like I was run over by a freight train. When I got up, it took me over and hour just to put pants on. And Even though I was miserable, I still had to trek to Wally World to get a vial of insulin. I was feeling slightly better (like I was run over by a semi instead of a freight train). Some more sleep, and I’m almost back to normal. The COVID vaccine packs a wallop. But actually having COVID packs an even bigger one and is more likely to kill me than actually getting it.

And I also got my flu shot at the same as well. Between these two shots, mask wearing and distancing, I hope not to get sick this winter.

No More WiFi Problems. I Hope...

Got a COVID booster today. I fall under the recommended categories for a booster (yay Type I diabetes). And I also got a flu shot as well. Between the two sets of Mind-Control chips, I shouldn't have any problems with the Wi-Fi...

And more importantly, I shouldn't get COVID or the flu. I hope... 

Not coming in to work tonight….

I normally work Sunday nights. I’m not coming in tonight though. A few weeks ago, I booked it for paid time off. And management actually approved it. So, I’m sitting on a 4-day weekend. It’s actually going to be just a two day weekend. I’m getting my COVID booster Tuesday, and I’ll probably need the last two nights to get over that….

Yet another lazy day off….

After the near fiasco last night trying to wash my clothes (waterproof hose tape has been ordered), I told my roommate brother that I would be replacing the entire roll of paper towels I used. And I need some more garbage bags. Which means an errand. That I don’t want to run on my day off. Hello Target run. Hello delivery. So, I’m having my errand delivered.

In a totally unrelated story, it’s open enrollment at work. Did mine this morning. Hello 401k. And company stock purchase plan…

About that last post….

I said that with some creative application of capillary action and paper towels, I could use mother’s old portable washing machine. Tonight, I tried washing another load. And I found the leak. The drain hose has split. Ok. While using an entire roll of paper towels to clean up the mess, it occurred to me that there is waterproof hose tape available. So I ordered a roll off of Spamazon. It arrives Wednesday. Hopefully it’ll work. It’s really hard to find quarters anymore…

It’s been a while. So it’s catch-up time….

It’s been a while since I wrote here. Here’s what has been happening in no particular order:

• Rebuilt my system again. Just to turn telemetry back on, so I could get back on the release candidate channel, just so I can run Windows 10 21H2.
• Replaced my webcam. Got a Logitech C920s. I had a webcam before, but I needed an upgrade. I had to get an HD camera. And I was concerned about privacy. With my old one, I simply turned it around, so if you could hack it, you’d only see a wall, and possibly some cords. This one comes with a privacy shutter. And also with the built in stereo microphones (that connect through the usb cable), I can disconnect my microphone and declutter the mess behind the tower.
• I took down my old microphone (see the last bullet point). I had it for 20 years.This was the last component of my first computer that I bought (the old Gateway PIII 866 megahertz).
• I started using our portable washing machine. We inherited it when Mother passed away, and we used for 3 years until one night when I did a load of laundry, and was greeted by a pretty good sized puddle of water in the kitchen. A leak. I used the apartment complex provided laundry facilities since then, but only 4 washer/dryer sets for the entire complex, plus the fact that metallic tinder circles are in short supply due to Covid. Add and increase in the cost per load, plus the fact that currently two of the washers are down, and I have to choice. But with a few paper towels, a Tupperware container, and a knowledge of capillary action, I can minimize the leak.
• I get my Covid booster next week. I got vaccinated in March. I actually had it in February. Given my chronic health condition (type I diabetes) and a high risk work environment, it is a no-brainer for me. Hopefully I can get a flu shot as well…

Another Major Accomplishment This Weekend…

The other thing I’ve done on my weekend, aside from the previously mentioned attempt at Windows 11, was a big one.

I finally finished all the Captain Underpants series on Netflix.

Truth, Justice, and All That Is Preshrunk And Cottony…

So I tried it…

Like I said last night, Windows 11 is out. I gave into temptation tonight and downloaded the Upgrade Assistant (not linking it here, but I trust that your Google-Fu  is strong. I upgraded to Windows 11. I was impressed with it. I was holding off on it while I waited for the official drivers to drop from  AMD mainly. When I last checked, it was the same drivers for Windows 11 as for Windows 10. So I bit. It took a couple of hours to download and install. And while it was stable, it just didn’t feel quite ready. So I went back to Windows 10. Which was an even quicker rollback than the upgrade. Though I was only on Windows 11 for 20 minutes. At the most.

Activation wise, it was quick and painless. So I guess I have a valid Win11 license for when the time comes to make the final jump to it. But I can’t quite let go of my Windows 10 live tiles, or how I’ve arranged my start menu. So while I made my first step to Win11, I’ll stick with WIn10 for now…

T-Mobile still sucks.

9 1/2 years ago, I switched from T-Mobile to Sprint. Basically an upgrade gone terribly wrong. Read about it here. I’ve had the occasional issue with Sprint, but that last two times I upgraded my phone went without a hitch….

T-Mobile bought Sprint. So the last upgrades for both phone lines involved swapping out SIM cards. No Issues there. Then in August when I f*cked up my tower and had to basically build a whole new computer, I thought that a new tablet would be in order. So I fired up the My Sprint app and ordered a new tablet and added a third line for it. The phone number for it was reserved and the tablet was shipped. Overnight (Sprint was really good at getting equipment out to you. Usually overnight). So I tired to activate it. Unable to do so online. I log on to chat. Unable to activate it. About this time I decide to return it. But nobody online wanted to. Kept bouncing me around from agent to agent, and ultimately being told to call customer service. Which I’m not having any of. I’ve been lied to enough that all correspondence will be in writing from now on with t-mobile. But alas I had to call. And one last time they were unable to activate it. So finally they agree to return it, and send me a label. So I UPS it back and it was recieved. I got my statement a couple of weeks ago, and guess who’s still getting billed for the table that has already been returned?

T-Mobile still sucks…

Windows 11 is out….

Windows 11 is now out. It’s going to be a rolling release, so you shouldn’t be automatically upgraded yet. If your Google-Fu is strong then you can figure out how to manually download it if you want to try it now. I’m holding off at least until my device manufacturers publish current drivers for it. I may try it down the road, but my system currently works, and I’m trying not to fix that which isn’t broke.

Fixed it….

Pulled my soon to be dead drive out. Repurposed one of my external backup drives to be my ‘documents’ drive, and put it back in the tower. Then did a system rebuild and reinstalled everything. Which I’ve just finished…. The other external backup drive is now just the back up drive (which I only need one now that I’ve consolidated folders).

Now let’s see how long this lasts. Windows 11 is coming out is a week or so. But I’m going to hold off on it. Everything works now, and if it works, don’t try to fix it. And more importantly, I want to see if drivers are published first…

It’s dead, Jim….

So after my last post about my hard drive failing, I decided to do a full format of it. Not the quick format. It took almost 18 hours. Then I ran a chkdsk, and it still has bad blocks. So, the hard drive is failing. I can’t afford to replace it yet, and I don’t want to take apart my tower to pull it out. So, like I posted previously, I’m abandoning it in place. I have plenty of space on my other drives, so the world’s not going to end right away….

This is fun….

Ok, another entry will be forthcoming about why I didn’t make it to work Sunday night. But this is a different story. If you remember this past spring, I replaced my 2 4tb hard drives with 2 8tb hard drives. And this past couple of weeks, I’ve noticed issues with one of them. File system errors. the inability to open folders. Ran a chkdsk and everything seemed to be fixed. So I continued to use it. And I noticed more errors. So I decided that it needed a format. Which is why I rebuilt my system last week. And this morning, as I set up my virtual machines, I still noticed the hard drive was giving me errors. So I need to either run a surface scan, or my hard drive is failing. If it’s the worst case scanario, I can’t afford to replace it, and I won’t be able to for a while. But I have plenty of space on my other drives, so for now this drive is going to be ‘abandoned in place’.  Eventually I may fix it, but until then, the world still goes around.

Do not panic.

20 Years Ago...

 20 Years ago, I woke up and saw the second tower get hit. Got out the door, got on the bus to work, and both towers collapsed while on the bus. Got to work right as the last plane crashed. 20 minutes later, everything closed. I'm not going to go into the details (if your Google-Fu is strong, you can rehash what happened).

I will remember the events of that day. By conducting my business as usual today. We must never forget that day. That day 2977 people died for freedom. And I will commemorate them by being free...

A tinge of regret…

So, after I f*cked my computer a couple of weeks ago, I had to order a bunch of parts for it. Enough parts that it would seem like I was getting a new computer. So I also bought a new Windows 10 license (an OEM one, since I built this myself).

Fast forward to Monday night, when I realized that one of my hard drives was giving me errors, and as part of the repair process I formatted it. And since a third of my software was installed on it, I thought it easier to nuke the whole system from orbit. A couple of missteps and restarts later, I got it installed to the point that I could link my local account with my Microsoft account. And then I realized that I didn’t need to buy that OEM license, because it still activated with the original product key that I used when I first built my computer.

So, Microsoft realizes that this is still the same computer. And I didn’t need to buy the OEM license. Oh well. I can’t return it since I’ve already used it. I guess this counts as a ‘lesson learned.’ Don’t buy it unless you absolutely need it…

Purging the desk….

After I added the second monitor, I had to clean the desk a little bit. Just a general de-cluttering. For the past 7 years, there has been some sort of coffeemaker on my desk. First there was the 4 cup minimaker. And then a couple of years ago I got a full sized one that could also do k-cups. I never really brewed the full-sized pot (something to do with it being plugged into the same circuit as the computer and the AC and tripping the breaker in my brother’s room). And today, I realized that I don’t need my stash of tea in my room anymore. So that’s out in the kitchen now. And I’ve just now taken down the TV tray that sat right beside me. I can pull it back out if I need the laptop again, but until then my room doesn’t need the clutter….

Another Two Headed Monster….

The last part of my computer arrived last week. After initially deciding that I wasn’t going to go through it, I decided that indeed I was going to add a second monitor. So I ordered a second ASUS 27 inch monitor. And while it was shipping, I realized that my desk was too small for 2 27” monitors. At least on their normal stands. Fortunately, they both have the screw holes to be wall mountable, and there are dual monitor stands that compatible with that. Of course I pulled the trigger. And then it occurred to me that I might not have the right screws, so in a panic, I ordered them from Spamazon (I actually ordered two since I was setting up two monitors). It turns out that the stand even included the screws and the wrenches to install everything. So I set everything up. Nothing is going to fall over now since the monitors are screwed to the stand and the stand is clamped to the desk.

After all that, just a few settings adjustments, and for the fist time since 2014, I have a two headed monster…

So I had a tablet….

A couple of weeks ago when I screwed up my computer. Enough that I had to practically replace it (enough hardware replacement that I had to buy a new Windows 10 license). I also decided to order a new tablet, so when I needed something I wouldn’t have spend 6 hours patching and upgrading the laptop before I use it. It was delivered right away, but because of work, I couldn’t activate it. So I went to an online chat, and they couldn’t activate it, and told me to call sales. Which really pissed me off. It seemed like I was being bounced around. Now if they were professionally handing me off to somebody else, I would’ve been ok with that. But they were telling me to call someone. To do legwork that they ought to have done themselves. So in frustration I took it to Twitter and pointed out how T-Mobile has piss poor customer service. And that went nowhere. Went back to chat tried it again, and this time after it was unable to activate it, I said I wanted to return it. I had to explicitly explain ‘3 strikes, you’re out’. Another phone call and I finally got the operator to understand that it was coming back (I’m not paying $200 for a Wi-Fi only tablet). So, yesterday I finally got it into UPS to begin it’s journey back.

As a side note, both Sprint and T-Mobile have really piss-poor customer service. This wasn’t the first time I’ve been treated like crap:

• There was my first attempt to upgrade to the HTC Sensation 4G on T-Mobile. They decided to pull a bait-and-switch on my plans. And when I returned the phones, my brother’s line lost all data. So we went to Sprint.
• And really with Sprint, there only two time when I was able to activate my new phone without any issues. There was my first phone (the HTC EVO 3D) and my Samsung Galaxy Note 9. Oh, and my current phone. But the HTC One M7 I had to go to a physical store to activate it. The HTC One M8 I had to reach out on social media. The HTC 10 I had to chew them out on Twitter for 7 hours because they chose to bring down there entire website until my brother came home, and I could call from his phone.
• And speaking of the HTC 10. There was the first I ordered it. I requested in store pick up and activation. And the employee was an ass. I just walked out. Sent Sprint and EECB, and even they couldn’t cancel my order…

And now we can add my attempt at adding a tablet to it. I paid full price for it, and added a line for it. And even after paying for it, they still couldn’t activate it. T-Mobile=Sprint=Piss-Poor customer service…

Hello World! Well, Sorta…

Hello World. As you might be able to tell, my replacement motherboard arrived Monday. And I installed it Monday night. Wasn’t quite as difficult as the first time when I built it. The most difficult part was cleaning the thermal paste off the processor (on a side note, it occurred to me Sunday night that I might not have any, so I placed a pickup order for it from Worst Buy when I was on the bus to work. When I got home, I saw the extra tube I had from the last time I installed my processor, and so I’m not going to pick it up, and it will be automatically refunded to me after a week).

Going by the rule that if I need to replace it, then I’m going to upgrade it I went from a X370 chipset to a X570 chipset. And also I needed to quit Windows 7 cold turkey. Every time I try it, I have to wipe and reinstall everything. And the last time I tried it, I couldn’t even boot the system into BIOS. And the X570 is definitely not compatible with it. So this way, I’ll have to stay on Windows 10.  I also suspected my SSD boot drive was kapoot as well. So I upgraded that. I was going to go with a PCI 4x4 m.2 SSD (use your Google-Fu to figure that out if you have to), but I realized that my processor (still running a Ryzen 7 2700X) didn’t support PCIE 4, so I ordered another PCIE 3x4. But I did upgrade to a 2TB drive. And I still have my 3 8tb HDD’s.

The RAM, video cards and DVD drives remained the same. Yes, if I have to replace it, I’ll upgrade it. But then again, if it works, then don’t try to fix it…

Software-wise I bought an OEM license for Windows. I figure if I’m replacing the motherboard, then Microsoft thinks that I’m getting a brand new computer (remember I replaced the processor last year). Went with the OEM license because I’m building it myself, and I’m my own tech support. The one thing that did surprise me is that I was able to install both Nero and CyberLink without any issues.Probably because they apparently activate when I use them, and I never did…

Well, let’s see how long this lasts…

The Last Day Of My Vacation…

I was going to stay up all night, and force-reset my circadian rhythm to my work schedule. But then I realized I had a UPS delivery coming today (the tablet I ordered yesterday). And then I finally did something that I had thinking about for a while. I ordered a second monitor. This means of course that my coffee maker will be coming out to the kitchen. Or to the closet. My brother has his coffeemaker in the kitchen right now, and I’m not going to argue with him. I’m still waiting for my motherboard to ship (scheduled to arrived on Monday).Today is the last day of my vacation. At 6 tonight, my alarm goes off and I return to work. I only have a three day work week to ease back into the daily grind (I took three vacation days, added them to my normal weekend to get 5 days off).

I really didn’t do much on my vacation. Went up to Federal Way on Wednesday, and while I drank my tea with my former boss, he said that he was going to train me for an emergency back-up at his new store (not to be disclosed yet). I know it’s a good thing not to burn your bridges, but I’ve already worked the equations, and this where location counts. I just can’t make it to his new location. But then again, this could be an opportunity…

Well, I did do something important: sleep. Late at night, with my computer f*cked up, I decided to take a 4 hour nap. And then another 4 hour nap in the afternoon, and I was good to go. And I had day light available to do stuff. And watch TV without having to DVR…

Yet Another Vacation Update….

Looking at the specs for my forthcoming motherboard (based on the AMD X570 chipset), I realized that my current processor (Ryzen 7 2700X) does not yet support PCIE 4x4 SSDs (use your Google-Fu if you can’t understand what I just wrote). I’ve already ordered and already received a PCIE 4x4 drive, thinking that I’d upgrade. Since this was my mistake I’m not going to return it (No need to hold the eBay merchant responsible for me not looking at the details). I’ll just hold until I upgrade my processor.

Having said that, I do have concerns about carrying over my old PICE 3x4 SSD that I was using with the old motherboard. It might have failed, and there is one other concern: a heatsink. The new motherboard has a heatsink specifically for the m.2 drives. And my old SSD already has a heatsink on it, and I don’t want to deal with peeling it off.

So, I just ordered a new one. This time I’m going from a 1 TB to a 2TB. And both m.2 slots are fully compatible with PCIE 3x4 as well. So, when I can afford a new processor, I can still use it. In addition to my 3 8TB old skool hard drives.

Another concern is a lack of wi-fi on the motherboard. Fortunately, the literature prominently mentioned that it had a slot for the same Intel wi-fi card. So it has been ordered and recieved already…

Today on my vacation will be a trip to Wally World. I need insulin. And there will be an attempt to reset my circadian rhythm back to something compatible with work. Basically no more 4 hour naps….

More Poor Judgement on my part

After messing my computer royally Monday morning, thought there has to be an easier to get online without pulling the laptop and spending 4hours to bring it up to date. And then I thought: A tablet! Yes, I’ve gone down that road before. And I’ve also had a USB modem before. But I decided it’s time to get a tablet again. I ordered a Samsung Galaxy Tab A7 Lite. I’m going for top of the line. And I’m not going with the installment plan (only $200. I paid for it up front). The data plan was only $20 a month. It’s nice to have something bigger than my phone to get on online and not be dependent on Comcast (there have been past concerns with them flaking out).

Also latest Vacation Update. It’s payday. Nothing much. Paid all my bills….

Vacation: Day 4

I know last night I said it was stream and chill. It was more less streaming and more chilling. I went to bed. Set my alarm for 4 hours and got up early in the morning. Went up to Federal Way. Met my former boss at Mrs. Fields. He offered lunch (it was/is my birthday). I settled for just a cup of tea. Mainly because my brother offered dinner, and I decided a taco bar would be good (hey, it’s Taco Tuesday somewhere). Got home from, and was greeted by 3 deliveries at my door (replacement parts for my computer). Now all I need is my new motherboard, scheduled to arrive soon. Took a brief nap, and then woke up to be told by my brother that he forgot to buy meat for tacos. No big deal. I know I can make some microwave nachos with what we have (I did place a grocery order when I got home Sunday). But he suggested Ubering Mexican. Ok, I can always go for arroz con pollo. It was good. I think tonight it will be another 4 hour nap, and then enjoy some more of that yellow thing in the sky.

And there were also all the birthday wishes on Facebook. I tried to reply to each one with a unique response to each one (note to my youngest brother: What has 9 arms and sucks?).

Vacation: Report

If you’re keeping score, well I fucked up my computer Sunday night/Monday morning. I’ve already replacement parts (mainly the motherboard). Realistically, I’m just replacing the motherboard, but this means getting a new Windows 10 license. So as far as Microsoft is concerned it’s a new computer.

Last night, I pulled the Tower out and pulled out all 3 hard drives. Plugged them into my media center tower (via a usb enclosure) and they’re still operable. So, back into the tower they go. I then decided that there was nothing on TV, so I went to bed and took a 4 hour nap. Got up with a headache. Drank an energy drink (I had a caffeine withdrawal headache) and my headache progressed to nausea. And 20 minutes later, it came back up. 2 cups of tea settled my headache down (and my stomach). Watched some cricket (The Hundred). And then I went to bed for another four hours. Tonight, I got up early and did laundry. The agenda today will be watch TV and stream & chill).

During the past two days, I've also been doing maintenance on the laptop. It’s slower than molasses, but I’ve managed to get it updated and patched (all the way to 21h1). I think in the not so far future there’s going to be a laptop rebuild. But I’ll hold off on it for now….

Almost forgot…

I almost forgot that I still have a laptop. Drawback is that it’s been a couple of months since I even turned it on, and so it’ll be a few hours before I can use it without it being slower than molasses. But It’s another working computer….

Back to the drawing board….

Decided to give Windows 7 a chance this morning on my tower. After about 20 minutes, I realized the error of my ways. So I put my Windows 10 drive in and rebooted. And nothing. Can’t even get it to load the boot loader screen. Nor can I get it to flash the BIOS. My birthday is coming up this week (the main reason why I went on vacation), and so I decided it’s time for a new computer. I plan salvaging as much of the parts of the old one that I can, so I’m just buying a new motherboard, a Windows 10 copy (and this time it’s an OEM copy since I’m building my own from now on). And a new SSD (if I didn’t fry this one, I’ll put it in as well….).

But this royally sucks, that I’m on vacation, and I don’t have my computer anymore. It’s a good thing I still have my previous tower….

Vacation: Commence

So, a few weeks ago, I booked Wednesday and Thursday night off for vacation. As is an actual vacation, and not burning vacation time because I had to call out (which my employer strongly discourages, btw). A couple of days later, I realized that my overnight manager had approved it. So after thanking him, I told him that I was also going to book Sunday night, and give myself a 5 day weekend. Which he approved. And so today rolled around. I got home from work. I’ve already ordered pizza. And placed my grocery orders with Wally World and Target (I’m lazy. I’ll pay the delivery fee just to avoid lugging everything on the bus).

So my vacation has started. I shall try to do as little as possible till Friday night.

I do have to admit that I have the best of timing. Last week there was a transformer blowout (possibly due to a collision), and we were without power for 2 hours. Last night I heard that tonight was going to be a scheduled outage for maintenance from 11pm to 6 am. Work must go on. The overnight manager has already said that headband flashlights will be issued to everyone, and work will continue. But I get to avoid the shit-show….

Hello Stranger…

Yes, it’s been a while. Sorry…

A couple of weeks ago, there was a standoff involving the police and my next door neighbor. Not going to go into details to preserve  privacy/due process of law, but I do have questions about the Pierce County Sheriff’s Department. Like why where they still setting off a flash-bang right outside my door after the suspect had peacefully given himself up? Just when I think I could finally trust cops again. Oh well. I’ll just stick with the no longer bothering to call 911 anymore. I fear the conduct of the law enforcement officials more than I fear the criminals…

My vacation starts next week. More on that later.

India and England tried playing a Test match. The English weather won.

Bought some new feet Monday from Famous Footwear. Yes, a few years ago I said I was done with them, but I have less issues with my feet if I wear Columbia’s and they have the best deal.

We’ve been out of hot water for the past week and a half. And it’ll be about another week before it’s restored. Take my advice: do not rent or lease from Pacific Rim Property Management. More on that later…