So it's been quite a few years since wrote here. Tonight, I decided that it's been long enough since I put my thoughts down on paper... virtual paper anyways. So without further ado, here it is... the return of reading material for really bored people.
When I started writing, I was just starting school, working graveyards as a security supervisor in an Atlanta high rise building, and planning my family's exodus from the miserable state of Georgia.
Flash forward around three years. I've gone through some pretty major life changes, some good, some bad.
I finished school in December 2012, earning my Associates Degree in Computer Information Sciences with a 3.2 GPA. That is an accomplishment that I will always be proud of since I was a pretty piss poor student throughout my entire academic career.
My wife and I separated in January of 2013. I am not going to get in the reasons for the separation (soon to be official divorce) because quite frankly, there's no point in talking about it.
I am now living in Idaho. So is (I suppose I can say) my ex-wife and daughter. This is actually a pretty major thing, because we did decide that we wanted to raise our daughter in a better environment, so we kept those plans, and she made it to Idaho about a month and a half after me.
And I am working for HP, which I think I spoke about wanting to work for once I moved here 3 years ago. So hey, that worked out.
Things do change in life. It's how we adapt to those changes which truly define us. I've had some serious life changing events happen in 2013, and am still going through a few of those as we speak. Tomorrow, since I have the day off, I am planning on sitting down, and working though some of those events in this blog, because there are some interesting stories that have come out of it. There are a few events I am will keep to myself to protect the not so innocent.
So tomorrow, I'll share a story about my last day in the South, which started in Georgia, and ended in Amarillo, Texas. Stay tuned.
Friday, August 30, 2013
Sunday, July 25, 2010
Vacation...
Only 59 more days until vacation... 59 more long... boring... painful... can't come fast enough days... That being said, only 57 more days until the end of this quarter... this long... well you get the idea.
/endshortpost
/endshortpost
Wednesday, July 14, 2010
Stories from the Deep South
In my profile, I make mention that I am the former ring announcer for the now defunct WWE developmental territory, Deep South Wrestling. Anyone who is a wrestling fan will recognize some of the names that I have worked with in that territory that made it to Raw and Smackdown. Just to name a few guys:
Former WCW U.S. Champion, Tag Champion, WWE Superstar and Trainer Bill DeMott
Former U.S. Champion and current Intercontinental Champion Kofi Kingston
Former U.S. and Tag Team Champion M.V.P.
Former World Champion and former WWECW Champion Jack Swagger
Former World Champion The Great Kahli
S.E.S. member Luke Gallows
Nexus members Heath Slater and Skip Sheffield
Unified Tag Team Champions Tyson Kid and D.H. Smith, and Diva Natalya Neidhart
And there are more, but I don't want this to be a whole "hey look at me, I used to hang around with soon to be famous people" post. I am proud to have, at one time, been associated with a number of great talents, and there are a few of them I keep in touch with, though not as regularly as I'd like, but that's my fault.
Anyways, I thought that every now and then, I'd post a story from back in the day. So I started thinking about which story to lead off with, should it be the Paul Heyman story, the fair trade story, or one of many other stories.
My first story is about my first back to back shows. We taped our shows at the DSW Arena on Thursday nights, which would go to air on Sunday. It was the night before our first big house show at Six Flags over Georgia, where the main event was King Booker (Booker T) vs. Bobby Lashley for the U.S. Championship. The Thursday before the show, Booker was there to help promote it. About an hour before show time, I get called in to Joe's office, and it's Joe, Booker and I think Bill, and Joe tells me that Booker is going to come out and cut a promo for the show, when to introduce him, and all that good stuff. I asked Joe "Should I stay in the ring or duck out while he's doing his promo?" Joe said "Nah kid, just stand in the corner and wait till he's done."
After that, I went back into the common area to talk to someone about something that was coming up in the show, and wait for the countdown for 7:20, when I would go out and warm up the crowd for 10 minutes. So 7:20 comes, I go out and start warming up the crowd, running down the highlights on the card, then started promoting the Six Flags Show when Booker's music hit. He gets in the ring, and as I go to hand him the mic, I must have accidently hit the power switch, so when he starts to talk, there is nothing from the mic. He turned and stared at me with his big Booker T "Tell me he didn't give me a dead mic" look, and I quickly turned it on.
So he starts his promo, his wife (Queen) Sharmell standing by his side, and he talks about Bobby Lashley, how he's going to fall to him like every peasant in the arena. Then he turns to me again, and grabs my suit jacket and pushes me into the turnbuckles. I'm trapped in the corner, Booker's eyes were bugging out, and he starts saying that he could make an example out of a peasant like me. Ok, I didn't know that part was coming, and in the heat of the moment, I legit thought that he was going to beat the snot out of me. Finally, he let's go, ends the promo and starts walking toward the back, all the while I have to say the "All hail, King Booker" gimmick.
I found out after the show that Joe set that up as a little rib on me, and I got a kick out if it. Anyways, after the show, I drove to a hotel near Six Flags, and got a room with our TV announcer Nigel, and after a small bottle of Jack Daniels, went to sleep (By myself, you pervs!)
Next day, I got up and dressed (all in black) and drove the short distance to the park. We all gathered in the place we were hanging out until show time, went over a few things, got our talent pass (which I still have hanging on my rear view mirror), and then began walking the park, handing out flyers promoting the show. At this point, it's about 95 degrees with 70% humidity. And I am wearing black. Needless to say, a very dumb thing on my part to do. Flash forward to the show, I do the usual warm up schtick, and it's apparent that I am not 100%. I made a few mistakes during my annoucements, and when I was sent backstage to deliver a message to someone, I couldn't get the damn words out of my mouth.
Yes, there it is. My first really big show, and I got heat exaustion. I was dehydrated really bad, and was making stupid mistakes. So after announcing one match, I sat down next to Bill. He asked me what the hell was wrong with me, and I told him that I wasn't doing so well, but I wasn't giving up. He asked if I needed something to drink, and handed me a cup of coke. I drank it down, ate the ice, and started feeling a little better, but then, he decided that I needed to be punished for being stupid. He told me I had to wear the cup on my hand for the entire match. So there I am, sitting ringside, wearing a suit and sitting there with a paper cup on my hand. I made it seem like it was the most embarrassing thing I've ever gone through so he wouldn't come up with something more creative, but in reality, I got a kick out of it.
So that's my first DSW story, I'll post more as they come to me.
Former WCW U.S. Champion, Tag Champion, WWE Superstar and Trainer Bill DeMott
Former U.S. Champion and current Intercontinental Champion Kofi Kingston
Former U.S. and Tag Team Champion M.V.P.
Former World Champion and former WWECW Champion Jack Swagger
Former World Champion The Great Kahli
S.E.S. member Luke Gallows
Nexus members Heath Slater and Skip Sheffield
Unified Tag Team Champions Tyson Kid and D.H. Smith, and Diva Natalya Neidhart
And there are more, but I don't want this to be a whole "hey look at me, I used to hang around with soon to be famous people" post. I am proud to have, at one time, been associated with a number of great talents, and there are a few of them I keep in touch with, though not as regularly as I'd like, but that's my fault.
Anyways, I thought that every now and then, I'd post a story from back in the day. So I started thinking about which story to lead off with, should it be the Paul Heyman story, the fair trade story, or one of many other stories.
My first story is about my first back to back shows. We taped our shows at the DSW Arena on Thursday nights, which would go to air on Sunday. It was the night before our first big house show at Six Flags over Georgia, where the main event was King Booker (Booker T) vs. Bobby Lashley for the U.S. Championship. The Thursday before the show, Booker was there to help promote it. About an hour before show time, I get called in to Joe's office, and it's Joe, Booker and I think Bill, and Joe tells me that Booker is going to come out and cut a promo for the show, when to introduce him, and all that good stuff. I asked Joe "Should I stay in the ring or duck out while he's doing his promo?" Joe said "Nah kid, just stand in the corner and wait till he's done."
After that, I went back into the common area to talk to someone about something that was coming up in the show, and wait for the countdown for 7:20, when I would go out and warm up the crowd for 10 minutes. So 7:20 comes, I go out and start warming up the crowd, running down the highlights on the card, then started promoting the Six Flags Show when Booker's music hit. He gets in the ring, and as I go to hand him the mic, I must have accidently hit the power switch, so when he starts to talk, there is nothing from the mic. He turned and stared at me with his big Booker T "Tell me he didn't give me a dead mic" look, and I quickly turned it on.
So he starts his promo, his wife (Queen) Sharmell standing by his side, and he talks about Bobby Lashley, how he's going to fall to him like every peasant in the arena. Then he turns to me again, and grabs my suit jacket and pushes me into the turnbuckles. I'm trapped in the corner, Booker's eyes were bugging out, and he starts saying that he could make an example out of a peasant like me. Ok, I didn't know that part was coming, and in the heat of the moment, I legit thought that he was going to beat the snot out of me. Finally, he let's go, ends the promo and starts walking toward the back, all the while I have to say the "All hail, King Booker" gimmick.
I found out after the show that Joe set that up as a little rib on me, and I got a kick out if it. Anyways, after the show, I drove to a hotel near Six Flags, and got a room with our TV announcer Nigel, and after a small bottle of Jack Daniels, went to sleep (By myself, you pervs!)
Next day, I got up and dressed (all in black) and drove the short distance to the park. We all gathered in the place we were hanging out until show time, went over a few things, got our talent pass (which I still have hanging on my rear view mirror), and then began walking the park, handing out flyers promoting the show. At this point, it's about 95 degrees with 70% humidity. And I am wearing black. Needless to say, a very dumb thing on my part to do. Flash forward to the show, I do the usual warm up schtick, and it's apparent that I am not 100%. I made a few mistakes during my annoucements, and when I was sent backstage to deliver a message to someone, I couldn't get the damn words out of my mouth.
Yes, there it is. My first really big show, and I got heat exaustion. I was dehydrated really bad, and was making stupid mistakes. So after announcing one match, I sat down next to Bill. He asked me what the hell was wrong with me, and I told him that I wasn't doing so well, but I wasn't giving up. He asked if I needed something to drink, and handed me a cup of coke. I drank it down, ate the ice, and started feeling a little better, but then, he decided that I needed to be punished for being stupid. He told me I had to wear the cup on my hand for the entire match. So there I am, sitting ringside, wearing a suit and sitting there with a paper cup on my hand. I made it seem like it was the most embarrassing thing I've ever gone through so he wouldn't come up with something more creative, but in reality, I got a kick out of it.
So that's my first DSW story, I'll post more as they come to me.
Friday, June 25, 2010
June
Last I wrote, I was 6 or so classes away from finishing up the quarter. A week or so ago, I finished up my third and fourth classes needed for my degree (I'm not counting my English transfer credits, otherwise it would be the fourth and fifth classes). At last posting, I was sitting on an A in each class. Well, I bombed the last two tests in Humanities, and finished with a B, but still got an A in speech. So my revived college career transcript looks like:
English 1101 - Transfer Credits, does not count toward GPA (But I got a C in the class years ago)
Math 1101 - B (3 Grade Points)
Psychology 1101 - A (4 Grade Points)
Humanities 1101 - B (3 Grade Points)
Speech 1101 - A (4 Grade Points)
So after 4 classes that count, sitting on a 3.50 GPA. Not bad for a guy who barely, if ever, saw a GPA throughout Jr. High/High School higher than a 2.0. Of course, if you really want to be a douche, add the C into my GPA, and it comes out to a 3.20 GPA.
In other news... there is no other news. June has been a really boring month... as you can tell. Maybe July will be a little more interesting. 3 classes this quarter, starting July 12th. Finishing up my core classes, the last one actually. Economics (blech), then 2 tech core classes, which as a CompTIA A+ Certified IT Technician, should be a breeze... My prediction for the summer classes... 2 A's and a B, which would bring my GPA to 3.57/3.12
See ya next time!
English 1101 - Transfer Credits, does not count toward GPA (But I got a C in the class years ago)
Math 1101 - B (3 Grade Points)
Psychology 1101 - A (4 Grade Points)
Humanities 1101 - B (3 Grade Points)
Speech 1101 - A (4 Grade Points)
So after 4 classes that count, sitting on a 3.50 GPA. Not bad for a guy who barely, if ever, saw a GPA throughout Jr. High/High School higher than a 2.0. Of course, if you really want to be a douche, add the C into my GPA, and it comes out to a 3.20 GPA.
In other news... there is no other news. June has been a really boring month... as you can tell. Maybe July will be a little more interesting. 3 classes this quarter, starting July 12th. Finishing up my core classes, the last one actually. Economics (blech), then 2 tech core classes, which as a CompTIA A+ Certified IT Technician, should be a breeze... My prediction for the summer classes... 2 A's and a B, which would bring my GPA to 3.57/3.12
See ya next time!
Sunday, May 30, 2010
May, May, Go Away, Come again in 334 days!
Finally, the last day of May is tomorrow! All the reason I need to put up only my 3rd blog this month, because as we all know, there is nothing more exciting than ending the month punching keys on a keyboard.
This has been one of the longest months I've had in a while. Okay, while the space/time continuum is still in place, it just seems like one of... ah, forget it, you get the idea.
My classes have been... going. Don't get me wrong, I still hate math, but I kind of miss Algebra class, and sitting at work for 5 hours working on incredibly complex problems that border on calculus. These classes have been somewhat disappointing, as in not as interesting as I had thought/hoped they'd be.
That being said, I am still knocking out the classes with "A's" in both, but I think I am suffering from a sort of post-interesting-class depression, because I am just counting the days until these classes are over.
On an interesting note, in my humanities class, I had to do a minimum 4 page, 1250 word on any artist in history, any medium. So I skipped the classic artists, Michaelangelo, Donatello, Rafael, and Leonardo... strangely, these are actually famous artist, not just pizza munching mutant turtles who excel at martial arts and hang out with a strangely pedophilic old rat named Splinter.
I decided to do mine on Bill Watterson who was the artist/creator of my favorite comic strip, Calvin and Hobbes. Now admittedly, he's probably not going to sell very many paintings at auction for over $10 Million, but hey, I admired his dedication to his craft.
Anyways, I turned this in, and my humanities teacher, who is a legit English Literature teacher, gave me an A+ on it, and asked for a digital copy of it to use as an example for her future classes. Yes, I am awesome!
Sitting at work on a Sunday, streaming E.S. Posthumus on the computer, and drinking water, because it's frigging hot in here and the engineers won't turn on the F'n air conditioner on the lobby level during the weekends... Le' Douches!
Only 6 more classes then I get a month off... thinking about buying my CompTIA Network+ book and working on my next level certification... and buying a gun. But that's a story for June... now you have something to look forward to...
This has been one of the longest months I've had in a while. Okay, while the space/time continuum is still in place, it just seems like one of... ah, forget it, you get the idea.
My classes have been... going. Don't get me wrong, I still hate math, but I kind of miss Algebra class, and sitting at work for 5 hours working on incredibly complex problems that border on calculus. These classes have been somewhat disappointing, as in not as interesting as I had thought/hoped they'd be.
That being said, I am still knocking out the classes with "A's" in both, but I think I am suffering from a sort of post-interesting-class depression, because I am just counting the days until these classes are over.
On an interesting note, in my humanities class, I had to do a minimum 4 page, 1250 word on any artist in history, any medium. So I skipped the classic artists, Michaelangelo, Donatello, Rafael, and Leonardo... strangely, these are actually famous artist, not just pizza munching mutant turtles who excel at martial arts and hang out with a strangely pedophilic old rat named Splinter.
I decided to do mine on Bill Watterson who was the artist/creator of my favorite comic strip, Calvin and Hobbes. Now admittedly, he's probably not going to sell very many paintings at auction for over $10 Million, but hey, I admired his dedication to his craft.
Anyways, I turned this in, and my humanities teacher, who is a legit English Literature teacher, gave me an A+ on it, and asked for a digital copy of it to use as an example for her future classes. Yes, I am awesome!
Sitting at work on a Sunday, streaming E.S. Posthumus on the computer, and drinking water, because it's frigging hot in here and the engineers won't turn on the F'n air conditioner on the lobby level during the weekends... Le' Douches!
Only 6 more classes then I get a month off... thinking about buying my CompTIA Network+ book and working on my next level certification... and buying a gun. But that's a story for June... now you have something to look forward to...
Thursday, May 13, 2010
A man's home is his castle, except when...
There is a saying that a man's home is his castle.
That would be true in my case, except when your HOA has stupid rules and your neighborhood kids are douchebags. Now, before I get flooded with hate mail for calling kids douchebags, let me explain.
Over the past few months, the neighborhood kids have taken up residence on my front lawn whenever the mood strikes, and on special occasions, sitting on our front porch. Uninvited.
Now, if I were a tolerant person, this wouldn't be a problem. But I am not a tolerant person, and have told the kids to go play on someone elses lawn. Because most of these kids are of "African descent", we've been labeled racist by some snot nosed, self important, where the wild things are douchebag 8 year old who doesn't even know what the meaning of racist is.
It's gotten to the point where today, as I was leaving for class, it was like the entire 2nd grade were trying to reinact Woodstock (minus the trash, drugs, nudity and music) on my front lawn. And when I told them to move, they just stared at me like "How DARE you demand us to leave your property?"
Which leads me to our HOA. They have a stupid rule that prohibits us from building any kind of fence in our front yards, which is bullshit in itself. I just want to figure out a way to keep these little bastards and bastardettes off my F'n property! Any ideas?
That would be true in my case, except when your HOA has stupid rules and your neighborhood kids are douchebags. Now, before I get flooded with hate mail for calling kids douchebags, let me explain.
Over the past few months, the neighborhood kids have taken up residence on my front lawn whenever the mood strikes, and on special occasions, sitting on our front porch. Uninvited.
Now, if I were a tolerant person, this wouldn't be a problem. But I am not a tolerant person, and have told the kids to go play on someone elses lawn. Because most of these kids are of "African descent", we've been labeled racist by some snot nosed, self important, where the wild things are douchebag 8 year old who doesn't even know what the meaning of racist is.
It's gotten to the point where today, as I was leaving for class, it was like the entire 2nd grade were trying to reinact Woodstock (minus the trash, drugs, nudity and music) on my front lawn. And when I told them to move, they just stared at me like "How DARE you demand us to leave your property?"
Which leads me to our HOA. They have a stupid rule that prohibits us from building any kind of fence in our front yards, which is bullshit in itself. I just want to figure out a way to keep these little bastards and bastardettes off my F'n property! Any ideas?
Monday, May 10, 2010
Nothing... nothing... nothing... then BAM! Something happens!
I haven't written in awhile, since I've been kind of working on a term paper for my Humanities class, and watching Giants games on the computer while at work.
And in reality, I haven't done anything noteworthy in quite a few weeks anyways, which deprived me the opportunity to observe things that otherwise would provide for witty commentary.
Cut to Saturday. I decided that instead of the (not for me) usual cards, flowers and going out to a restaurant on Mother's Day, I decided to do a Mother's day dinner on Saturday, but one that I actually cooked.
So Friday, I hit up the store, and did a little shopping for the ingredients I would need to make dinner. Spent a good 45 minutes checking out this and that, scrutinizing the meats and inspecting the seafood. I made my purchases, and spent close to $100 on this dinner (cooked for 5 people), realizing that I actually saved money doing it myself than going to a restaurant and dealing with the unwashed (in Georgia, probably 80% true) masses.
Saturday came, and I spent parts of the morning doing prep work, chopping and dicing and mincing. In the afternoon, the MIL, her husband, and the FIL came over, and while the rest of the family was relaxing on the porch, I literally slaved over a hot stove whipping up the first course, which was an improvised Shitake and Portabello mushroom risotto, which got rave reviews and requests to make it again at some point. I quickly ate this in the kitchen while the others were enjoying it in the dining room, so I could get the second course started and keep dinner flowing.
The second course was pan seared filet mignon, then oven baked, with a red wine pan sauce and pan seared (ok, I like pan searing stuff) fresh (not frozen) sea scallops and steamed asparagus. Now, up until Saturday, I had never ever attempted to cook a scallop, and after watching every season of Hell's Kitchen and seeing Gordon Ramsey tear into these more experienced chefs screwing up the scallops, I was intimidated. Fortunately, I went online, got a brief video instruction, and did a test scallop that morning.
Apparently, I can cook a freakin' scallop, because the wife keeps mentioning them (and feeding my already super inflated cooking ego).
Ok, so I cheated on dessert. Went to a bakery, and got a small 6 searving lemon cake, and we all had some, including the kiddo, who went on a sugar rampage outside after dinner.
So Sunday, went to work, came home, and we went to see Iron Man 2. Good flick, didn't like the replacement of Terrance Howard with Don Cheadle, but the humor and story was good.
Which leads me to today. Summer class registration started this morning at 8 am, and I was ready. I had all my classes figured out and went to register... and couldn't get the Economics course, the last of my core classes, because for some reason, the system said I hadn't met the prerequisites. Towhich I said BULLS**T, and piled myself into the car, and drove the whole 5 minutes to campus, and got it taken care of. While I was walking back to my car, I stopped by the bookstore and bought something I have always wanted. A chef's jacket (which would have come in handy Saturday). So now, when I get all culinary, I can throw on the jacket and chef up a storm.
Went back home, and got my Econ class registered for, so this upcoming quarter, 3 classes on the docket. The Economics course (my last core class) which will be done online, and 2 tech courses, both of which are primers for the CompTIA A+ Certification which I already have, so they should be easy as hell. I can easily see 2 A's and a B this next quarter.
And in reality, I haven't done anything noteworthy in quite a few weeks anyways, which deprived me the opportunity to observe things that otherwise would provide for witty commentary.
Cut to Saturday. I decided that instead of the (not for me) usual cards, flowers and going out to a restaurant on Mother's Day, I decided to do a Mother's day dinner on Saturday, but one that I actually cooked.
So Friday, I hit up the store, and did a little shopping for the ingredients I would need to make dinner. Spent a good 45 minutes checking out this and that, scrutinizing the meats and inspecting the seafood. I made my purchases, and spent close to $100 on this dinner (cooked for 5 people), realizing that I actually saved money doing it myself than going to a restaurant and dealing with the unwashed (in Georgia, probably 80% true) masses.
Saturday came, and I spent parts of the morning doing prep work, chopping and dicing and mincing. In the afternoon, the MIL, her husband, and the FIL came over, and while the rest of the family was relaxing on the porch, I literally slaved over a hot stove whipping up the first course, which was an improvised Shitake and Portabello mushroom risotto, which got rave reviews and requests to make it again at some point. I quickly ate this in the kitchen while the others were enjoying it in the dining room, so I could get the second course started and keep dinner flowing.
The second course was pan seared filet mignon, then oven baked, with a red wine pan sauce and pan seared (ok, I like pan searing stuff) fresh (not frozen) sea scallops and steamed asparagus. Now, up until Saturday, I had never ever attempted to cook a scallop, and after watching every season of Hell's Kitchen and seeing Gordon Ramsey tear into these more experienced chefs screwing up the scallops, I was intimidated. Fortunately, I went online, got a brief video instruction, and did a test scallop that morning.
Apparently, I can cook a freakin' scallop, because the wife keeps mentioning them (and feeding my already super inflated cooking ego).
Ok, so I cheated on dessert. Went to a bakery, and got a small 6 searving lemon cake, and we all had some, including the kiddo, who went on a sugar rampage outside after dinner.
So Sunday, went to work, came home, and we went to see Iron Man 2. Good flick, didn't like the replacement of Terrance Howard with Don Cheadle, but the humor and story was good.
Which leads me to today. Summer class registration started this morning at 8 am, and I was ready. I had all my classes figured out and went to register... and couldn't get the Economics course, the last of my core classes, because for some reason, the system said I hadn't met the prerequisites. Towhich I said BULLS**T, and piled myself into the car, and drove the whole 5 minutes to campus, and got it taken care of. While I was walking back to my car, I stopped by the bookstore and bought something I have always wanted. A chef's jacket (which would have come in handy Saturday). So now, when I get all culinary, I can throw on the jacket and chef up a storm.
Went back home, and got my Econ class registered for, so this upcoming quarter, 3 classes on the docket. The Economics course (my last core class) which will be done online, and 2 tech courses, both of which are primers for the CompTIA A+ Certification which I already have, so they should be easy as hell. I can easily see 2 A's and a B this next quarter.
Friday, April 23, 2010
Shady computer technicians and their scumbag practices.
Here at work, we have a computer in the back room that controls the keycard system, and allows us to lock and unlock doors from our console computer, as well as has the printer hooked up to it which allows us to print our daily paper work.
Last Friday morning, about 15 minutes before I had to leave, I sent my paperwork to the printer, and got an error message saying it couldn't connect to the printer. I went into the back room, and noticed the computer was stuck on the BIOS loading screen, which told me that the system was overheating. So I reboot the system, get Windows loaded up, and shoot off my paperwork, and tell the guy relieving me about it. He contacts the tech guy who is contracted to run the system. Outside vendor, not an in-house guy.
I've met this guy. He's an older ex-military guy who likes to tell you stories about Vietnam and God and other things that have nothing to do with any questions you ask him. Total smokescreener (I'd say Bullshitter, but I am trying to keep my blog family friendly... oops! Damn it!).
Here is the story as was told to me. He came in Saturday, just after noon, armed only with a screwdriver. He opens the tower, and notices the reason for the reboot and lockup, is because the tower fan inside is CLOGGED with dust, dirt, and all things unhealthy for a tower fan. Now I don't know if you've ever tried to remove a case fan, but it's a relatively easy task that should take no more than 30-45 seconds. Apparently, he struggled with it for 30 minutes. After getting the fan off, he blew on it, and a few dustbunnies fell to their deaths to the floor.
Ok, here's where it gets really good. He tells the guys on duty that "There are NO COMPUTER STORES OPEN ON SATURDAY OR SUNDAY THAT HE COULD GO TO, TO BUY A REPLACEMENT PART!" Really? There's a MicroCenter up the road 10 minutes from here, and last I checked, they were open on Saturdays and Sundays... And besides, if he was a tech worth a DAMN, he would have had a can of compressed air to clean the fan (along with a tool kit, and an anti-static bag at bare minimum when reporting to a client job), and blow out the tower, just to get things dust free. But he didn't, so he's not.
So he takes the tower Saturday, and returns it Tuesday, under shady circumstances. He brings it in a box that looks like a new computer, but he swears it's not. Only problem is, it doesn't have the 25 pin parallel port that the old printer needs to print. So he gives some flimsy excuse, that apparently the people who pay the bills believe.
So I come in Tuesday night, and hear the story. I almost pass out from the absurdity of it, and go into the back room to see what the problem is. I look in the back, and bingo, no parallel port. The old computer had a parallel port. The towers look identical, so he was able to fool everyone else. Not me. That's the advantage of being a certified IT Technician. I know what the hell I am talking about.
So I tell the guy who relieves me, who is our bosses right hand man, and he couldn't believe it. All told, the guy probably charged the building managers $500-600 for a quick 10 minute job that I would have done for $25.
Makes me really want to get a business license and go into business for myself, because I believe in being straight with a customer. Because if you screw the customer, you'll be out of business in a hearbeat. I still am shaking my head over this one...
Last Friday morning, about 15 minutes before I had to leave, I sent my paperwork to the printer, and got an error message saying it couldn't connect to the printer. I went into the back room, and noticed the computer was stuck on the BIOS loading screen, which told me that the system was overheating. So I reboot the system, get Windows loaded up, and shoot off my paperwork, and tell the guy relieving me about it. He contacts the tech guy who is contracted to run the system. Outside vendor, not an in-house guy.
I've met this guy. He's an older ex-military guy who likes to tell you stories about Vietnam and God and other things that have nothing to do with any questions you ask him. Total smokescreener (I'd say Bullshitter, but I am trying to keep my blog family friendly... oops! Damn it!).
Here is the story as was told to me. He came in Saturday, just after noon, armed only with a screwdriver. He opens the tower, and notices the reason for the reboot and lockup, is because the tower fan inside is CLOGGED with dust, dirt, and all things unhealthy for a tower fan. Now I don't know if you've ever tried to remove a case fan, but it's a relatively easy task that should take no more than 30-45 seconds. Apparently, he struggled with it for 30 minutes. After getting the fan off, he blew on it, and a few dustbunnies fell to their deaths to the floor.
Ok, here's where it gets really good. He tells the guys on duty that "There are NO COMPUTER STORES OPEN ON SATURDAY OR SUNDAY THAT HE COULD GO TO, TO BUY A REPLACEMENT PART!" Really? There's a MicroCenter up the road 10 minutes from here, and last I checked, they were open on Saturdays and Sundays... And besides, if he was a tech worth a DAMN, he would have had a can of compressed air to clean the fan (along with a tool kit, and an anti-static bag at bare minimum when reporting to a client job), and blow out the tower, just to get things dust free. But he didn't, so he's not.
So he takes the tower Saturday, and returns it Tuesday, under shady circumstances. He brings it in a box that looks like a new computer, but he swears it's not. Only problem is, it doesn't have the 25 pin parallel port that the old printer needs to print. So he gives some flimsy excuse, that apparently the people who pay the bills believe.
So I come in Tuesday night, and hear the story. I almost pass out from the absurdity of it, and go into the back room to see what the problem is. I look in the back, and bingo, no parallel port. The old computer had a parallel port. The towers look identical, so he was able to fool everyone else. Not me. That's the advantage of being a certified IT Technician. I know what the hell I am talking about.
So I tell the guy who relieves me, who is our bosses right hand man, and he couldn't believe it. All told, the guy probably charged the building managers $500-600 for a quick 10 minute job that I would have done for $25.
Makes me really want to get a business license and go into business for myself, because I believe in being straight with a customer. Because if you screw the customer, you'll be out of business in a hearbeat. I still am shaking my head over this one...
Tuesday, April 20, 2010
Coming soon... Doughnut Porn!
I was tipped to this gourmetish doughnut place in Atlanta where they serve rather unique creations. So last Friday, I went and picked up a 6 pack of doughnuts, and brought them home (minus one oreo encrusted doughnut, that one didn't make the ride home).
Well, I got home, and actually took some pictures of said doughnuts, and I promise to post them once I get them off the camera...
That's all for today.
Well, I got home, and actually took some pictures of said doughnuts, and I promise to post them once I get them off the camera...
That's all for today.
Friday, April 9, 2010
When something happens you can never expect to duplicate
Short post on this one, which I am sure is a refreshing change of pace. Have you ever had one of those moments where something happens, no matter how small and insignificant it is, that you know will never happen again, no matter how the stars align?
I had one of those yesterday morning on the way home from work. As I was driving home, it was nice enough (not too cold, not to hot, and definately not raining), for me to drive with the sunroof open. As I am cruising along, I hear the distinct sound of rock on metal, followed by said rock (read: pebble) hitting me square on the top of my head and then hitting the back window.
After a brief "ow" and putting it all together, all I could do is shake my head and say "What the hell?" I picked the rock off my back seat where it had settled once I got to school, and it was a pebble no more than 1/4 inch in any direction. No, I did not decide to keep it.
The end :)
I had one of those yesterday morning on the way home from work. As I was driving home, it was nice enough (not too cold, not to hot, and definately not raining), for me to drive with the sunroof open. As I am cruising along, I hear the distinct sound of rock on metal, followed by said rock (read: pebble) hitting me square on the top of my head and then hitting the back window.
After a brief "ow" and putting it all together, all I could do is shake my head and say "What the hell?" I picked the rock off my back seat where it had settled once I got to school, and it was a pebble no more than 1/4 inch in any direction. No, I did not decide to keep it.
The end :)
Wednesday, April 7, 2010
So much for a "Normal Sleep Pattern" and grooving with a shark!
I wasn't really going to post today... I really don't have much in the way of valuable brain power right now. "Why?" you may ask... or not. Actually, I am thinking more in the "not" catagory because I don't think anyone has read this blog (through no fault of their own, I don't broadcast when I post a new blog anywhere).
Anyways, I was just reading through one of my previous posts, I think lamenting about the ending of last quarter, but feeling okay about it because I would be getting back to a "normal sleep pattern". Yeaaaaaaah... about that...
On Easter Sunday, I had to work from 8AM to 4PM, which I didn't mind, since I don't observe religious holidays, or religion for that matter, except Thanksgiving and Christmas (one of these things is not like the other :) ). I got home around 5ish, and my Mother In Law (henseforth known as MIL), her husband Dennis and my Father In Law (also henseforth known as FIL, not to be confused with PHil) were at the house wrapping up making plans for Tuesday's celebration of FIL's birthday. FIL left, and my daughter was begging for a bath (who would have throught a 3 year old would BEG for a bath?), and MIL and Dennis graciously took her back to their place so she should have a bath, and my wife and I could take a "nap". At 5:30. In the PM.
Next thing I know, it's around 9 or so, when my daughter and wife come into the room, and we have a brief family "say goodnight to your freshly clean and non sugar fueled daughter before she goes to bed" moment, and was asked if I was getting up, or staying in bed. At this time, my eye lids felt like their feet had been dipped in cement and dropped off a bridge, so I said "I'm staying in bed." My wife, in her wisdom, said "Great, that means you'll be up at 6AM", which I denied... and in fact, I was correct... I was up at 7AM Monday morning.
So I woke up, ate some cereal, checked facebook, and planted myself on the couch for a few hours of uninterrupted XBox playing. All was good that morning, the sun was shining, my daughter woke up and ate half her breakfast, and I was feeling good. Then after a while, my wife, who had been sleeping in which she deserved, woke up and got ready for her doctor's appointment. I looked at the clock and it was about 1:30 or so, and her appointment was at 2:30. So I assumed she'd be back at around 3:30, and would be able to take a couple of hours nap before my first class of the quarter. Yeaaaaaaaaah... about that.
She wasn't home at 4:15 when MIL called and I told her what was going on, and she (again, graciously) volunteered to come over and watch the kid while I took a nap, but at that point was too late, because I would have only gotten about 45 minutes of sleep, and that would do me nooooo good. She came over anyways, and my wife came home around 4:45. I decided to hit the pillows for 20 minutes just to wind down a little, and got up and went to class.
After class, I got back about 7:45 and instead of taking a nap, decided to cook dinner and make lunch for myself, and then went to work. Suprisingly, I made it through my shift pretty unscathed, left and went to my 8AM class. Once again, suprisingly was awake through the whole thing. Got home at 10:20, was up for 20 minutes, and promptly passed out at 10:45. All in all, I had been awake for 28 straight hours, and as a result, I missed the entire FIL birthday celebration, which I feel absolutely horrible about, despite everyone saying "they understood". So I think I am going to have to take him out for lunch this weekend to make up for it. So much for a "normal sleep pattern". This will be corrected immediately by human resources. !:
*----*
There is a blog I have recently discovered by doing random blog searches to find someone who blogs who is actually.... I don't know... INTERESTING. From their blog, found out about http://www.grooveshark.com/, which is pretty much an online jukebox, plays almost any song you want, on demand... pretty groovin. At work streaming "Twilight Zone" by Golden Earring.. And I'd like to thank The Eagles for their live version of "Hotel California" that I was playing while typing the above part of the blog.
Anyways, I was just reading through one of my previous posts, I think lamenting about the ending of last quarter, but feeling okay about it because I would be getting back to a "normal sleep pattern". Yeaaaaaaah... about that...
On Easter Sunday, I had to work from 8AM to 4PM, which I didn't mind, since I don't observe religious holidays, or religion for that matter, except Thanksgiving and Christmas (one of these things is not like the other :) ). I got home around 5ish, and my Mother In Law (henseforth known as MIL), her husband Dennis and my Father In Law (also henseforth known as FIL, not to be confused with PHil) were at the house wrapping up making plans for Tuesday's celebration of FIL's birthday. FIL left, and my daughter was begging for a bath (who would have throught a 3 year old would BEG for a bath?), and MIL and Dennis graciously took her back to their place so she should have a bath, and my wife and I could take a "nap". At 5:30. In the PM.
Next thing I know, it's around 9 or so, when my daughter and wife come into the room, and we have a brief family "say goodnight to your freshly clean and non sugar fueled daughter before she goes to bed" moment, and was asked if I was getting up, or staying in bed. At this time, my eye lids felt like their feet had been dipped in cement and dropped off a bridge, so I said "I'm staying in bed." My wife, in her wisdom, said "Great, that means you'll be up at 6AM", which I denied... and in fact, I was correct... I was up at 7AM Monday morning.
So I woke up, ate some cereal, checked facebook, and planted myself on the couch for a few hours of uninterrupted XBox playing. All was good that morning, the sun was shining, my daughter woke up and ate half her breakfast, and I was feeling good. Then after a while, my wife, who had been sleeping in which she deserved, woke up and got ready for her doctor's appointment. I looked at the clock and it was about 1:30 or so, and her appointment was at 2:30. So I assumed she'd be back at around 3:30, and would be able to take a couple of hours nap before my first class of the quarter. Yeaaaaaaaaah... about that.
She wasn't home at 4:15 when MIL called and I told her what was going on, and she (again, graciously) volunteered to come over and watch the kid while I took a nap, but at that point was too late, because I would have only gotten about 45 minutes of sleep, and that would do me nooooo good. She came over anyways, and my wife came home around 4:45. I decided to hit the pillows for 20 minutes just to wind down a little, and got up and went to class.
After class, I got back about 7:45 and instead of taking a nap, decided to cook dinner and make lunch for myself, and then went to work. Suprisingly, I made it through my shift pretty unscathed, left and went to my 8AM class. Once again, suprisingly was awake through the whole thing. Got home at 10:20, was up for 20 minutes, and promptly passed out at 10:45. All in all, I had been awake for 28 straight hours, and as a result, I missed the entire FIL birthday celebration, which I feel absolutely horrible about, despite everyone saying "they understood". So I think I am going to have to take him out for lunch this weekend to make up for it. So much for a "normal sleep pattern". This will be corrected immediately by human resources. !:
*----*
There is a blog I have recently discovered by doing random blog searches to find someone who blogs who is actually.... I don't know... INTERESTING. From their blog, found out about http://www.grooveshark.com/, which is pretty much an online jukebox, plays almost any song you want, on demand... pretty groovin. At work streaming "Twilight Zone" by Golden Earring.. And I'd like to thank The Eagles for their live version of "Hotel California" that I was playing while typing the above part of the blog.
Friday, April 2, 2010
Stories from days gone by...
There was a time, long ago, when I was the ripe old age of 22ish, when I was doing college basketball games on the radio with this guy, we'll call Phil. (Name changed to protect his current radio gig).
This would have been back in 1997, sometime in November, when we were supposed to go do a road game some 4 and a half hours away. At the time, being a low budget junior college radio station, we were forced to do any remote broadcasts from a "cell caster", which is essentially, a cell phone that hooked up to our broadcast gear. The deal we had with the provider was we'd give them free advertising in exchange for turning on the cell service on days of games, which we had arranged well ahead of time.
Fast forward to the day of the game, when Phil, his girlfriend (though he'd deny it all the time) Phyllis (again, name changed to protect... something), and myself driving to the game, listening to Creedence Clearwater Revival and having deep discussions about fried chicken (yes, really), when we decided to stop for lunch, some 2 hours from the Bay Area. While waiting for our Denny's lunch special, we decide to check the cell caster, and make sure service was active, something that would have been prudent to do, oh, say 3 hours ago, when we were loading up the stuff. We dial the station, and get a "no service" tone.
The three of us look at each other in disbelief, either in shock at the fact the waitress actually put our orders in, despite the language barriers between us (she was hispanxican), or the fact that the douchebag at the cell shop failed to turn on service. We try again, and are met again with the taunting no service tone.
We then decide to head back, since there would be no point in trying to broadcast the game without this vital piece of equiptment. As we cross back over the Altamont Pass (580 West), we try one more time to call the station, and the call went through. Turns out that the guy turned the thing on for Local Service Only, which defeated the point of having the damn thing turned on to begin with.
Dejected, we plotted a course to the studio, however, Phil got an idea. (This is where the dramatic DUN DUN DUHHHHHHHH would play). "There is a Warrior's game on tonight, isn't there?" asked Phil, to which I said "uh huh". Then I got where he was going... were we to violate the "This game is presented by the authority of the NBA and can not be rebroadcast..." rule that is mentioned so prominently during the 1st quarter (usually)?... No... Yes... No... "Why not, no one will be listening anyways, we need the tape." he says. "Besides, I got a case of Miller Lite and we can pick up a bucket of chicken...." and that's all he had to say. Chicken and beer, all the while rebroadcasting an NBA game and passing it off as our own? Who could resist?
So we got back to his modest home (and believe me, modest is a generous statement) after picking up our essentials for the evening. Sitting in his living room, 30 minutes before game time, we hook up the equiptment, dial into the studio, and get ready to perpetuate the biggest hoax the college has ever beared witness to... if anyone had been listening to it anyway.
We told the board op that we were high above the floor, in this vacuumed sealed booth, where all the sound from the arena was magically kept out, so there was not even the slightest of game related noises coming though (and incidently, there were quite a few meows from his cat that made the tape).
Now, tip off time, and we began to pass off others work as our own, the guilt being gently washed away with Miller Lite and greasy fried chicken. Long story short (too late), by the time the game ended, we were sloppy drunk, producing bodily gasses en masse, and passing off the final score as the final from our game.
Oddly enough, when we looked at the paper the next day, the score was nowhere near the score we broadcasted, but no one thought to ask us why... However the right team did lose (us and the Warriors from the night before), and as days went by, we knew we were in the clear...
That my friends, I have been holding in for 13 years, telling only the closest of my inner circle of friends... and now you know the story of Miller Lite, Fried Chicken, and Radio Plagurism. I think the statute of limitations is well past.
This would have been back in 1997, sometime in November, when we were supposed to go do a road game some 4 and a half hours away. At the time, being a low budget junior college radio station, we were forced to do any remote broadcasts from a "cell caster", which is essentially, a cell phone that hooked up to our broadcast gear. The deal we had with the provider was we'd give them free advertising in exchange for turning on the cell service on days of games, which we had arranged well ahead of time.
Fast forward to the day of the game, when Phil, his girlfriend (though he'd deny it all the time) Phyllis (again, name changed to protect... something), and myself driving to the game, listening to Creedence Clearwater Revival and having deep discussions about fried chicken (yes, really), when we decided to stop for lunch, some 2 hours from the Bay Area. While waiting for our Denny's lunch special, we decide to check the cell caster, and make sure service was active, something that would have been prudent to do, oh, say 3 hours ago, when we were loading up the stuff. We dial the station, and get a "no service" tone.
The three of us look at each other in disbelief, either in shock at the fact the waitress actually put our orders in, despite the language barriers between us (she was hispanxican), or the fact that the douchebag at the cell shop failed to turn on service. We try again, and are met again with the taunting no service tone.
We then decide to head back, since there would be no point in trying to broadcast the game without this vital piece of equiptment. As we cross back over the Altamont Pass (580 West), we try one more time to call the station, and the call went through. Turns out that the guy turned the thing on for Local Service Only, which defeated the point of having the damn thing turned on to begin with.
Dejected, we plotted a course to the studio, however, Phil got an idea. (This is where the dramatic DUN DUN DUHHHHHHHH would play). "There is a Warrior's game on tonight, isn't there?" asked Phil, to which I said "uh huh". Then I got where he was going... were we to violate the "This game is presented by the authority of the NBA and can not be rebroadcast..." rule that is mentioned so prominently during the 1st quarter (usually)?... No... Yes... No... "Why not, no one will be listening anyways, we need the tape." he says. "Besides, I got a case of Miller Lite and we can pick up a bucket of chicken...." and that's all he had to say. Chicken and beer, all the while rebroadcasting an NBA game and passing it off as our own? Who could resist?
So we got back to his modest home (and believe me, modest is a generous statement) after picking up our essentials for the evening. Sitting in his living room, 30 minutes before game time, we hook up the equiptment, dial into the studio, and get ready to perpetuate the biggest hoax the college has ever beared witness to... if anyone had been listening to it anyway.
We told the board op that we were high above the floor, in this vacuumed sealed booth, where all the sound from the arena was magically kept out, so there was not even the slightest of game related noises coming though (and incidently, there were quite a few meows from his cat that made the tape).
Now, tip off time, and we began to pass off others work as our own, the guilt being gently washed away with Miller Lite and greasy fried chicken. Long story short (too late), by the time the game ended, we were sloppy drunk, producing bodily gasses en masse, and passing off the final score as the final from our game.
Oddly enough, when we looked at the paper the next day, the score was nowhere near the score we broadcasted, but no one thought to ask us why... However the right team did lose (us and the Warriors from the night before), and as days went by, we knew we were in the clear...
That my friends, I have been holding in for 13 years, telling only the closest of my inner circle of friends... and now you know the story of Miller Lite, Fried Chicken, and Radio Plagurism. I think the statute of limitations is well past.
Sunday, March 28, 2010
III Reasons I hate Georgia
Realizing that it has been in fact 6 years ago this month that we moved to Georgia from California (which I also hate with more passion than can be described), I have begun counting the reasons why I despise the not-so-great state of Georgia.
1) Summer. Having grown up roughly 50 milesish from San Francisco, in a bowl valley just east of Oakland, summers were hot, and reasonably opressive... however, it was, as they say, a dry heat. One that is akin to sitting in an oven on very low temperature for 12 weeks.
However, here in (the not-so-great) state of Georgia, we not only get the opressive heat, but humidity that seeps into every fiber of your being. Horrible humidity that makes you sweat buckets the second you open your front door (which, I theorize, evaporates and mixes in with the existing humidity, which means every breath you take (Awesome song), you are sucking in the sweat from the 400 pound trucker chick at Wal-Mart who has a very inappropriate tramp stamp on her ample back.
2) No Jack in the Box. The nearest Jack in the Box is in SOUTH CAROLINA for goodness sake, roughly a 6 hour drive round trip for bacon cheddar wedges and egg rolls, not to mention the extremely awesome Bacon Ultimate Cheeseburger (on sourdough with no ketchup or mustard). I would have absolutely no problem making the trip, mind you, if I had ample money. Of course, if I had ample money, I'd be out of this hellhole already. What's worse, is JitB is running NATIONAL ad campaigns, which adds insult to injury, rubs salt in the wound, and kicks your 3 legged blind dog all at the same time, all the while promising to expand their stores in these JitBless states soon...
Knowing my luck, the first one opened in Atlanta, will open the day after we move... and all the ones in Idaho will close the day before we get there.
3) Southern Hospitality - Why would I hate this most wonderful sounding thing that makes you envision corn bread and lemonade next to the swimming hole while pa picks at his banjo and Old Man Walters blows into his empty 'shine bottle (that he just finished drinking, and incidently is about to fall off the porch)?
Because there is NO SUCH THING. Granted, there may have been some back in the Gone with the Wind days, but now adays, Southern Hospitality has been replaced by a population who act like they've overdosed on Southern Comfort and think you stole their wallet. Goes to show that people, for the most part, are the same everywhere you go... Douchebags. Douchebags, laced with the tinge of racism, reverse racism, bi-racial racism, blatant racism, and overall just bad tempered racism. That eminates from all races. White people that hate black people, black people that hate white people, white crosswalk guys mocking their black backgrounds... it's everywhere. Definately not a place to raise a young child and expect them to be normal (i.e. with a full set of teeth and/or not pregnant at 14 and married to some guy named "Bubba" at 15).
I know the old saying about the grass is always greener, blah, blah, blah... right about now, it's sure looking pretty good.
1) Summer. Having grown up roughly 50 milesish from San Francisco, in a bowl valley just east of Oakland, summers were hot, and reasonably opressive... however, it was, as they say, a dry heat. One that is akin to sitting in an oven on very low temperature for 12 weeks.
However, here in (the not-so-great) state of Georgia, we not only get the opressive heat, but humidity that seeps into every fiber of your being. Horrible humidity that makes you sweat buckets the second you open your front door (which, I theorize, evaporates and mixes in with the existing humidity, which means every breath you take (Awesome song), you are sucking in the sweat from the 400 pound trucker chick at Wal-Mart who has a very inappropriate tramp stamp on her ample back.
2) No Jack in the Box. The nearest Jack in the Box is in SOUTH CAROLINA for goodness sake, roughly a 6 hour drive round trip for bacon cheddar wedges and egg rolls, not to mention the extremely awesome Bacon Ultimate Cheeseburger (on sourdough with no ketchup or mustard). I would have absolutely no problem making the trip, mind you, if I had ample money. Of course, if I had ample money, I'd be out of this hellhole already. What's worse, is JitB is running NATIONAL ad campaigns, which adds insult to injury, rubs salt in the wound, and kicks your 3 legged blind dog all at the same time, all the while promising to expand their stores in these JitBless states soon...
Knowing my luck, the first one opened in Atlanta, will open the day after we move... and all the ones in Idaho will close the day before we get there.
3) Southern Hospitality - Why would I hate this most wonderful sounding thing that makes you envision corn bread and lemonade next to the swimming hole while pa picks at his banjo and Old Man Walters blows into his empty 'shine bottle (that he just finished drinking, and incidently is about to fall off the porch)?
Because there is NO SUCH THING. Granted, there may have been some back in the Gone with the Wind days, but now adays, Southern Hospitality has been replaced by a population who act like they've overdosed on Southern Comfort and think you stole their wallet. Goes to show that people, for the most part, are the same everywhere you go... Douchebags. Douchebags, laced with the tinge of racism, reverse racism, bi-racial racism, blatant racism, and overall just bad tempered racism. That eminates from all races. White people that hate black people, black people that hate white people, white crosswalk guys mocking their black backgrounds... it's everywhere. Definately not a place to raise a young child and expect them to be normal (i.e. with a full set of teeth and/or not pregnant at 14 and married to some guy named "Bubba" at 15).
I know the old saying about the grass is always greener, blah, blah, blah... right about now, it's sure looking pretty good.
Thursday, March 25, 2010
[Waiting...]
By the way, the title is a tribute to one of my favorite [Adult Swim] bumps, and actually is an apt title if I may say so myself. Why, you may ask (or not)...
After 4 exceeding long, painful days of anticip...............ation, (RHPS Reference) my first quarter grades were posted on line, and as expected, I nailed Psychology with an A (which I already knew because we got our grade on the final day of class... last Monday.
I think I posted in my last blog on Monday about the final exam, and what I needed to finish with a B, since an A was mathematically impossible. Well I don't know what I actually got on my final, but I logged on to my online student profile, and there, after 4 long.. oh wait, I already said that... days of [Waiting...], my math grade, sitting there, nonchalantly, was my much desired B.
So my first college semester as an adult, returning to the realm of education, as to better myself and prospects for better employment, not to mention getting the hell out of Georgia, resulted in a very respectable 3.5 GPA.
So how am I celebrating such a monumental achievement (ok, so I am overselling it a little... ok alot)? A can of coke and sitting at work, in the dimmed light of the lobby.
Only 7 more quarters to go...
After 4 exceeding long, painful days of anticip...............ation, (RHPS Reference) my first quarter grades were posted on line, and as expected, I nailed Psychology with an A (which I already knew because we got our grade on the final day of class... last Monday.
I think I posted in my last blog on Monday about the final exam, and what I needed to finish with a B, since an A was mathematically impossible. Well I don't know what I actually got on my final, but I logged on to my online student profile, and there, after 4 long.. oh wait, I already said that... days of [Waiting...], my math grade, sitting there, nonchalantly, was my much desired B.
So my first college semester as an adult, returning to the realm of education, as to better myself and prospects for better employment, not to mention getting the hell out of Georgia, resulted in a very respectable 3.5 GPA.
So how am I celebrating such a monumental achievement (ok, so I am overselling it a little... ok alot)? A can of coke and sitting at work, in the dimmed light of the lobby.
Only 7 more quarters to go...
Tuesday, March 23, 2010
A journey of 1000 miles can be defined as f(m)=1000x*10 Weeks
Some good news for today. Finally, after attempting to cram 8 months of College Algebra into my head in only 10 weeks (well, 2 days a week for 10 weeks is actually 20 days, which 2 hours a class is really 40 hours, which is a standard work week... really?), I took my final exam today, and I think I did well enough on it to solidify a B in the class, which would make my GPA after 2 classes to 3.5. Not a bad start. 15% of my degree down, and I begin the home stretch of my core classes on April 5th, Humanities and Speech, which anyone who knows me, knows I have no problem talking.
THE STORY OF THE BOOK BUYBACK THAT DIDN'T BUY MY BOOK BACK
First we define the word "Work" as Informal. to exploit (someone or something) to one's advantage: See if you can work your uncle for a new car. He worked his charm in landing a new job
This is an example of how college textbooks bought and sold though the on campus bookstore is a work. I purchased (out of time and necessity) a brand new 8th Edition College Algebra book for my class this quarter for about $160ish. Thinking that the bookstore would take it back during buybacks, I walked to the spot they had set up, and handed them my Psych book and my Algebra book. They had no problem taking back the Psych book, but when they scanned the Algebra book, they told me that they were switching to the 9th edition and that they wouldn't take back the 8th edition. Meaning I am stuck with a $160 book that I have absolutely no use for (and for those people who would suggest I go ahead and study the rest of the material, let me cut you off right now with an emphatic "HELL NO"!). So now to scour the internets to find someone who will buy it back and not rape me (metaphorically speaking).
All in all though, I am happy that I am done with this quarter, and algebra altogether, but there is a little sadness as well, since I spent so much time and effort studying, racking my brain trying to solve problems, and really getting into the problem solving aspect of it, I will miss the class a little. It was a good challenge, one that I felt worthy of. Can't say the same for Psychology, and probably not for Humanities and Speech. I do have an Economics class in the summer that should be interesting, and once I get into the guts of my degree courses, I should find that satisfying as well. I just hope I don't fall into "auto-pilot" mode and screw these two classes up after a promising start.
In other news, I finally get to go back on a normal sleep schedule (at least, normal for me), and that's about it. I feel mentally strong right now, and my stress level is back to manageable, if bordering on barely noticable. I'm sure that will change in a couple weeks when classes resume.
Oh yeah, arm is out of the sling, some mild soreness in my left hand and minor loss of motor control, but all in all, it's better. Hopefully I can get get full control of my hand again.
In the meantime, here's looking at you!
THE STORY OF THE BOOK BUYBACK THAT DIDN'T BUY MY BOOK BACK
First we define the word "Work" as Informal. to exploit (someone or something) to one's advantage: See if you can work your uncle for a new car. He worked his charm in landing a new job
This is an example of how college textbooks bought and sold though the on campus bookstore is a work. I purchased (out of time and necessity) a brand new 8th Edition College Algebra book for my class this quarter for about $160ish. Thinking that the bookstore would take it back during buybacks, I walked to the spot they had set up, and handed them my Psych book and my Algebra book. They had no problem taking back the Psych book, but when they scanned the Algebra book, they told me that they were switching to the 9th edition and that they wouldn't take back the 8th edition. Meaning I am stuck with a $160 book that I have absolutely no use for (and for those people who would suggest I go ahead and study the rest of the material, let me cut you off right now with an emphatic "HELL NO"!). So now to scour the internets to find someone who will buy it back and not rape me (metaphorically speaking).
All in all though, I am happy that I am done with this quarter, and algebra altogether, but there is a little sadness as well, since I spent so much time and effort studying, racking my brain trying to solve problems, and really getting into the problem solving aspect of it, I will miss the class a little. It was a good challenge, one that I felt worthy of. Can't say the same for Psychology, and probably not for Humanities and Speech. I do have an Economics class in the summer that should be interesting, and once I get into the guts of my degree courses, I should find that satisfying as well. I just hope I don't fall into "auto-pilot" mode and screw these two classes up after a promising start.
In other news, I finally get to go back on a normal sleep schedule (at least, normal for me), and that's about it. I feel mentally strong right now, and my stress level is back to manageable, if bordering on barely noticable. I'm sure that will change in a couple weeks when classes resume.
Oh yeah, arm is out of the sling, some mild soreness in my left hand and minor loss of motor control, but all in all, it's better. Hopefully I can get get full control of my hand again.
In the meantime, here's looking at you!
Friday, March 19, 2010
Hell week over, injuries, and a countdown to Idaho update
Well, hell week is pretty much over, I just need to finish the final 5 hours of my shift. The worst of it was Wednesday, as I had to do CPR/AED certification, my Algebra final review, and work all night on 3 hours of sleep (on St. Patrick's Day no less), and what do I have to show for it? My left arm in a sling.
Back in my senior year of high school, I had my left shoulder dislocated playing softball. Since then, it kind of goes in and out (or out, then back in) on its own. Well it must have done it earlier in the week because it was a little sore (which is rare, because I rarely feel any discomfort when it pops out and back in) Tuesday. I think I slept on it wrong and it popped out and stayed that way for awhile.
Anyways, back from that tangent, Wednesday during class, while doing compressions, it must have popped out and on it's way back home, pinched a nerve pretty bad. My shoulder was really hurting last night to the point of being unable to hold a 12 oz can of coke.
Well, I ran into an EMT last night while closing up the garage, and we got to talking because he noticed I was not moving my left arm, and wincing if I did. He told me what I figured it to be, and recommended keep it in a sling for 7-10 days. So I am doing that (and incidently typing this with one hand).
Monday is my Algebra final, and I am a little worried about it because I think I hit my "no more math" wall. Got to do some studying this weekend and hope to miracle a 65% to guarantee a "B" in the class. I did get my final grade in Psychology already, scoring an impressive 790 points out of a possible 800 for the first academic A in my life I think!!
So after Monday, I got 2 weeks off before I start quarter 2 (of hopefully only 8, according to my plan), which means about 22 months until we are free to move to Idaho.
Off to enjoy my weekend, as best as possible.
Back in my senior year of high school, I had my left shoulder dislocated playing softball. Since then, it kind of goes in and out (or out, then back in) on its own. Well it must have done it earlier in the week because it was a little sore (which is rare, because I rarely feel any discomfort when it pops out and back in) Tuesday. I think I slept on it wrong and it popped out and stayed that way for awhile.
Anyways, back from that tangent, Wednesday during class, while doing compressions, it must have popped out and on it's way back home, pinched a nerve pretty bad. My shoulder was really hurting last night to the point of being unable to hold a 12 oz can of coke.
Well, I ran into an EMT last night while closing up the garage, and we got to talking because he noticed I was not moving my left arm, and wincing if I did. He told me what I figured it to be, and recommended keep it in a sling for 7-10 days. So I am doing that (and incidently typing this with one hand).
Monday is my Algebra final, and I am a little worried about it because I think I hit my "no more math" wall. Got to do some studying this weekend and hope to miracle a 65% to guarantee a "B" in the class. I did get my final grade in Psychology already, scoring an impressive 790 points out of a possible 800 for the first academic A in my life I think!!
So after Monday, I got 2 weeks off before I start quarter 2 (of hopefully only 8, according to my plan), which means about 22 months until we are free to move to Idaho.
Off to enjoy my weekend, as best as possible.
Sunday, March 14, 2010
Overtime, End of the Quarter, and Sam's Club...
I dread double shifts. I absolutely dread them, probably they leave me drained for a few days afterwards, no matter how much rest I get afterwards. Worse yet, I dread working a double to start my work week. Not the best way to get a start on the week. That being said, I am finishing up the tail end of my "Begin the work week" double shift (-1 hour due to the time change). Even worse way to start what I call "Hell Week".
Why "Hell Week"? It is because there is an unusually busy schedule ahead this week, and I am not looking forward to it. Let me break it down.
Sunday - Started at Midnight, and working until 4pm, but because of the time change, it's only 15 hours worked instead of 16 (but I get paid for 16, or rather 8 + 12 with time and a half).
Monday - Dr. Appointment at 11:15am, my last Psych class (final exam) at 1:10, maybe a nap before my 5:45 Algebra class (maybe no nap), and then rest and eat before getting ready for work at 11:00.
Tuesday - Get very aquainted with my pillow as much as possible before working at 11:00
Wednesday - Get home around 8, sleep for 3 hours, drive an hour back to work for a 3 hour CPR class (and you better believe I get paid for it), drive all the way back home just in time for my 5:45 Algebra class (can't skip it, since it's the second to last of the quarter, and we're cramming for the final), come home and either eat and relax or sleep for two hours before work at, you guessed it, 11:00.
Thursday - Reaquaint myself with afore mentioned pillows, before once again, working at 11:00.
Friday - Home at 8:00am, sleep till whenever, get up and enjoy the rest of Friday and all day Saturday off, before working 8:00am - 4:00pm on Sunday, and having my Algebra final Monday night.
Finally, kicking around the idea of a Sam's club membership. $40 a year (which breaks down to $3.33 a month) and there's good savings on some stuff I want to buy, like 10 pound bags of chicken breasts and some other stuff. Wife isn't sure if it's worth it, I think it would be worth trying for a year, but money is tight right now and it's six of one, half a dozen of the other, and a partridge in a pear tree.
Until later....
Why "Hell Week"? It is because there is an unusually busy schedule ahead this week, and I am not looking forward to it. Let me break it down.
Sunday - Started at Midnight, and working until 4pm, but because of the time change, it's only 15 hours worked instead of 16 (but I get paid for 16, or rather 8 + 12 with time and a half).
Monday - Dr. Appointment at 11:15am, my last Psych class (final exam) at 1:10, maybe a nap before my 5:45 Algebra class (maybe no nap), and then rest and eat before getting ready for work at 11:00.
Tuesday - Get very aquainted with my pillow as much as possible before working at 11:00
Wednesday - Get home around 8, sleep for 3 hours, drive an hour back to work for a 3 hour CPR class (and you better believe I get paid for it), drive all the way back home just in time for my 5:45 Algebra class (can't skip it, since it's the second to last of the quarter, and we're cramming for the final), come home and either eat and relax or sleep for two hours before work at, you guessed it, 11:00.
Thursday - Reaquaint myself with afore mentioned pillows, before once again, working at 11:00.
Friday - Home at 8:00am, sleep till whenever, get up and enjoy the rest of Friday and all day Saturday off, before working 8:00am - 4:00pm on Sunday, and having my Algebra final Monday night.
Finally, kicking around the idea of a Sam's club membership. $40 a year (which breaks down to $3.33 a month) and there's good savings on some stuff I want to buy, like 10 pound bags of chicken breasts and some other stuff. Wife isn't sure if it's worth it, I think it would be worth trying for a year, but money is tight right now and it's six of one, half a dozen of the other, and a partridge in a pear tree.
Until later....
Friday, March 12, 2010
3 Annoyances that deserve paintball treatment...
I've been thinking about this for awhile now, usually 10 times a week (on the way to work and on the way home 5 days a week). There are three things that are just so profoundly annoying to me, that I just want to go out and buy a paintball gun, and use it on those offenders who are just too annoying NOT to shoot.
1) People who drive 10 miles an hour UNDER the speed limit in the fast lane. I think everyone who does this should have their cars peppers with multiple colored paint, as a warning that these people do not know how to drive. Never mind the fact that they don't get the clue to get the hell into a slower lane when you flash your brights at them. Now paintballing them... that'll wake them up.
2) People who can not acknowledge a simple greeting such as "Good Morning". I deal with this almost every day as well. Where I work, it's part of my job in the morning to greet people by saying "Good Morning" as an acknowledgement that I am aware of their presence, and beyond that, it's just a nice thing to do. For the most part, people are pretty good about returning the greeting, or at least nodding their head in my general direction. I don't take that as a slight at all. Sometimes people have things on their mind, or perhaps aren't feeling very socialble that morning. I get that. But the ones who walk by without even a simple acknowledgement, or worse yet, the ones who shoot you dirty looks for even speaking to them deserve... yep, you guessed it, to have their $1,000 suit custom decorated with fashionable paint. That way, everyone will be able to recognize them for the assholes they truly are from across the lobby.
3) People who twitter. I mean, really? Your life is so interesting that you find it necessary to tell people in 140 words what kind of coffee you are drinking or who you just saw in the grocery store that looks like some celebrity, or any other facet of your life that the world needs to know THAT VERY SECOND? [SPLAT] You get a paintball in the back of your head.
1) People who drive 10 miles an hour UNDER the speed limit in the fast lane. I think everyone who does this should have their cars peppers with multiple colored paint, as a warning that these people do not know how to drive. Never mind the fact that they don't get the clue to get the hell into a slower lane when you flash your brights at them. Now paintballing them... that'll wake them up.
2) People who can not acknowledge a simple greeting such as "Good Morning". I deal with this almost every day as well. Where I work, it's part of my job in the morning to greet people by saying "Good Morning" as an acknowledgement that I am aware of their presence, and beyond that, it's just a nice thing to do. For the most part, people are pretty good about returning the greeting, or at least nodding their head in my general direction. I don't take that as a slight at all. Sometimes people have things on their mind, or perhaps aren't feeling very socialble that morning. I get that. But the ones who walk by without even a simple acknowledgement, or worse yet, the ones who shoot you dirty looks for even speaking to them deserve... yep, you guessed it, to have their $1,000 suit custom decorated with fashionable paint. That way, everyone will be able to recognize them for the assholes they truly are from across the lobby.
3) People who twitter. I mean, really? Your life is so interesting that you find it necessary to tell people in 140 words what kind of coffee you are drinking or who you just saw in the grocery store that looks like some celebrity, or any other facet of your life that the world needs to know THAT VERY SECOND? [SPLAT] You get a paintball in the back of your head.
Thursday, March 11, 2010
Internet therapy or useless ranting.
So everyone has one of these nowadays, don't they? Well I do anyways. I've always wanted to blog, but quite frankly, I knew I'd just get bored with it and stop after a couple of posts, and not update the damn thing for a year, post a couple more, and repeat the cycle.
However, lately, it seems that I have been doing a lot of introspection about my life, and feeling a little disconnected from a lot of things that are important to me, mostly my wife and daughter, for about a month now.
Now I am not like I was a couple of years ago, so depressed that I couldn't muster up the energy or desire to be involved with them. Not at all... it's just that I've slipped in my level of enthusiasm, for a lack of a better term.
Let's explore this. After every element, I will include a score. Why? I am not really sure. Maybe it'll help me figure some things out... who knows.
Let's begin.
I work graveyards in a very boring, unfulfilling job, making barely enough money to support a family of 3. (+5)
In January, I made the monumental decision to return to school to pursue my associates degree in computer networking, and foolishly made my schedule to where my Tuesday/Wednesday schedule amounts to maybe 4 hours of sleep in 39 hours (More on this later) (+8)
Last week, I took out a used car loan for $3150 to purchase a new minivan for my wife (6.75% for 26 months) (+2)
So I am giving myself a stress score of 15, which probably serves no purpose because I have no scale to compare it to, but it makes me feel better. Obviously, the higher the number, the more stress involved though...
Ok, I feel the need to address these three points one at a time. First, the unfulfilling, very boring graveyard job. It's my fault that this is pretty much all I am qualified for right now, since I was extremely disinterested in high school, graduating with a sub 2 GPA, and was way to immature to even consider finishing college. Or one semester of college for that matter. So maybe part of my funk is a subconscious pity party for myself because I wasted my opportunity when I had it.
Going back to school. This actually came about because of one of those stupid Facebook "Where do you belong" quizzes that I took out of boredom. It actually said I belong in Idaho, which, after sharing with my wife and having a few good laughs, we started doing some research and what we found convinced us that that's pretty much where we belong. But I didn't want to uproot my family just to get stuck in another dead end job, so I decided to go to school, with my end goal of getting my degree so we can move to Boise with a better chance of getting a better job.
Now here's where the stupid part comes in. My work schedule is: Sunday 8:00am - 4:00pm. Monday - Thursday 11:00pm - 7:00am. Which means Mondays are a good day to take some classes because I will have had a decent night sleep. So I schedule my Psychology class for 1:10-3:15pm Mondays and Wednesdays, and my Algebra class 5:45-7:50pm Mondays and Wednesdays. Which means, Tuesday, I get up around 5 in the afternoon, go to work from 11 until 7, get home at 8, sleep until roughly 12:30, go to class, come home and maybe take a nap or not, go to math class, come home and eat, and go back to work from 11-7. Not a lot of sleep there, which makes me a pain to be around.
Thankfully, Monday is my last Psychology class, and I will finish that with an A, so I guess it paid off...
The car loan. This was done out of necessity, and the fact that I thought it would be a cool valentines day present to my wife. Got a nice 2001 Dodge Grand Caravan Sport for a good price, and it fits into our budget (barely). Just got to figure out how to get it paid off in 2 years instead of 3.
So I guess the light at the end of the tunnel is I finish Psychology Monday, finish Algebra on 3/22/10, and have 2 weeks off before my second quarter. Now I learned from my mistake, and am trying something new with this quarter schedule. Same work schedule, but my school schedule will be Speech Fundamentals on Mondays and Wednesdays from 5:45-7:50, and Humanities on Tuesday and Thursday mornings from 8 - 10:05. This should put me in a little more balanced sleep pattern, and maybe I'll start to emerge from this little funk I am in...
Ok, I doubt anyone who read this whole thing (if anyone did read this whole thing) cares one way or another... no problem. I know I feel better now, getting some of this pent up emotion out. But this is what to expect from this blog. I don't know when I will post again, hopefully soon, and I don't know what I will post, and quite frankly, I don't care if you enjoy it, follow it or ignore it. This is more for me than you, but the light is on, coffee made and a chair is waiting if you feel the urge to have a seat and listen... you never know, you might like it. I might like it. We'll see...
However, lately, it seems that I have been doing a lot of introspection about my life, and feeling a little disconnected from a lot of things that are important to me, mostly my wife and daughter, for about a month now.
Now I am not like I was a couple of years ago, so depressed that I couldn't muster up the energy or desire to be involved with them. Not at all... it's just that I've slipped in my level of enthusiasm, for a lack of a better term.
Let's explore this. After every element, I will include a score. Why? I am not really sure. Maybe it'll help me figure some things out... who knows.
Let's begin.
I work graveyards in a very boring, unfulfilling job, making barely enough money to support a family of 3. (+5)
In January, I made the monumental decision to return to school to pursue my associates degree in computer networking, and foolishly made my schedule to where my Tuesday/Wednesday schedule amounts to maybe 4 hours of sleep in 39 hours (More on this later) (+8)
Last week, I took out a used car loan for $3150 to purchase a new minivan for my wife (6.75% for 26 months) (+2)
So I am giving myself a stress score of 15, which probably serves no purpose because I have no scale to compare it to, but it makes me feel better. Obviously, the higher the number, the more stress involved though...
Ok, I feel the need to address these three points one at a time. First, the unfulfilling, very boring graveyard job. It's my fault that this is pretty much all I am qualified for right now, since I was extremely disinterested in high school, graduating with a sub 2 GPA, and was way to immature to even consider finishing college. Or one semester of college for that matter. So maybe part of my funk is a subconscious pity party for myself because I wasted my opportunity when I had it.
Going back to school. This actually came about because of one of those stupid Facebook "Where do you belong" quizzes that I took out of boredom. It actually said I belong in Idaho, which, after sharing with my wife and having a few good laughs, we started doing some research and what we found convinced us that that's pretty much where we belong. But I didn't want to uproot my family just to get stuck in another dead end job, so I decided to go to school, with my end goal of getting my degree so we can move to Boise with a better chance of getting a better job.
Now here's where the stupid part comes in. My work schedule is: Sunday 8:00am - 4:00pm. Monday - Thursday 11:00pm - 7:00am. Which means Mondays are a good day to take some classes because I will have had a decent night sleep. So I schedule my Psychology class for 1:10-3:15pm Mondays and Wednesdays, and my Algebra class 5:45-7:50pm Mondays and Wednesdays. Which means, Tuesday, I get up around 5 in the afternoon, go to work from 11 until 7, get home at 8, sleep until roughly 12:30, go to class, come home and maybe take a nap or not, go to math class, come home and eat, and go back to work from 11-7. Not a lot of sleep there, which makes me a pain to be around.
Thankfully, Monday is my last Psychology class, and I will finish that with an A, so I guess it paid off...
The car loan. This was done out of necessity, and the fact that I thought it would be a cool valentines day present to my wife. Got a nice 2001 Dodge Grand Caravan Sport for a good price, and it fits into our budget (barely). Just got to figure out how to get it paid off in 2 years instead of 3.
So I guess the light at the end of the tunnel is I finish Psychology Monday, finish Algebra on 3/22/10, and have 2 weeks off before my second quarter. Now I learned from my mistake, and am trying something new with this quarter schedule. Same work schedule, but my school schedule will be Speech Fundamentals on Mondays and Wednesdays from 5:45-7:50, and Humanities on Tuesday and Thursday mornings from 8 - 10:05. This should put me in a little more balanced sleep pattern, and maybe I'll start to emerge from this little funk I am in...
Ok, I doubt anyone who read this whole thing (if anyone did read this whole thing) cares one way or another... no problem. I know I feel better now, getting some of this pent up emotion out. But this is what to expect from this blog. I don't know when I will post again, hopefully soon, and I don't know what I will post, and quite frankly, I don't care if you enjoy it, follow it or ignore it. This is more for me than you, but the light is on, coffee made and a chair is waiting if you feel the urge to have a seat and listen... you never know, you might like it. I might like it. We'll see...
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