Rantings...
2/21/10
Wow, the first post since October? or did I accidently overwrite something? Anyhow,
been updating content today. The pictures page is up and
running now. It's been renamed to "Pics and Picks"; catchy eh? Not only pictures but the
picks of my favorite websites too. Just a few for now, but working on it.
10/24/09
Yesterday I installed Windows 7. I've spent hours reinstalling my apps. Finally just installed "Office" and "Expression". After that I need to download almost 400 MB of updates, I'm not kidding. So after all that I figured I'd see if I could post or not. Then I'll install "Visual Studio".
My vacation or "staycation" as it might have been is winding down. Actually feel really good today. Kinda dread having to go back. I like work, just wish I could have another week off. I haven't really accomplished much, but that was sort of the idea. Just to sleep, eat, relax, and move to 64 bits. I've accomplished that and turning another year older.
10/12/09
Happy round earth day!
9/5/09
Is tommorow like a month later(see previous post)? I guess it's all relative. Moving on, I saw this at 4 a.m. this morning before I was really awake and before my infusion of caffiene. I couldn't stop laughing 'cause I'm still a 12 year old at heart.
Also recently realized that my website displays fabulously on the wii. Was very happy to see that the youtube videos played. Also, the web browser is now free, as in beer, on the wii. They are going to refund my 500 wii points sometime in the future for what I spent on it in the past :-/
Ok, was supposed to post something spectacular (oh, and I am). For once it's not all about me.
This is from one of the people my Godson is following on twitter. Absolutely phenomenal. I'd
like to believe the mesage is true. I am, however, eternally pessimistic. Will
post more later. Maybe tommorow, I hope. For now, enjoy the artwork and music.
7/16/09
Been a long time since I've updated. A lot has happened since I last posted. Most devastating is the loss of my buddy Patches. Seriously, my best friend and confidant for 11 years. I've never had to euthanize any pet I've had, that was the hardest. Still not comfortable with it. Was it too soon? Too late? His cancer had returned, he was bleeding from his nose and eye... I feel bad, really bad, still. Unbelievable how much I miss that 7 pound ball of fur. Who am I supposed to blame all the noises in the house for, late at night? Hopefully, a better update this week end.
6/7/09
I only have 17 minutes before I need to flip my chicken. Cooking in the oven today.
Some normal chicken; garlic, salt, and pepper. Some chicken that some people think
of as weird; peanut butter, ginger, garlic, onion, pepper, and orange blossom honey.
I have so much to update and so little time! Been in Reno visiting the Kenneston
clan. Always fun. I need to make a link to a play him off keyboard cat video.
and embed "The mean kitty song", as Keyboard Cat, Sparta, and SMP Films bring me
much joy ;) Maybe do all that after I'm finished cooking.
Also need to fix my pictures page. Been whining about it for months. Now I actually need to do something about it. Gotta get the pics of Greg and Ashley up, been promising for months.
5/14/09
I thought this was just hysterical. Vince + Slap Chop + Dj Steve Porter = awesome!
5/4/09
It's 9:30 a.m., I'm finally getting around to getting some things done around the house. I
can't be the only one who has to pick and choose what activities happen and which one's
fall to the wayside, due to time restraints. I'm extremely happy I'm employed and enjoy what
I do at work. Just wish it left a little more free time.
Glenn Frank finished laying pavers (used red brick) and flagstone in my backyard. My patio is so much bigger now. I'm actually going to try and plant a small lawn today to the right of the new patio extention. It's very nice to be rid of the two cubes of used red brick and see it used, instead of thrown away.
Still trying deperately to rid this house of junk. The garage almost has enough room to park a car in it! Not that I drive or own a car. Just reclaiming the space seems like a small victory. Speaking of which I have to get my garbage out, continue laundry, and plant that lawn ;-)
4/21/2009
Month and a half since my last update... I'm getting worse. So it's finally getting warmer outside; like it so much better than 30 and 40 degree weather. Still wish I had more time to do the things I enjoy. Work is tough and the summer months are brutal, many time constraints. Recently, I've hired Glenn Frank to extend my patio. He does excellent work, at a great price. Glenn is a designer as well as a general contractor. More info can be found here. Will definitely post a picture when the work is complete. He also did the tile in my bathroom. Excellent work.
3/13/2009
Absinthe, really
mysterious and misunderstood, just like most my friends. Anyhow, I took my friend Allan's (AK) advice and
tried all the different varieties I received. Just like my friend Allen (FAH) said... walking is
over rated.
3/3/2009
So I hid out last week end. It was a good week end, my friends. Most people thought I was abducted at the hardware store, since that was my last tweet. No, I did feel really good though. Thought answering my phone would bring nothing but misery. Someone would say I wasn't doing good enough or that I'm doing too good. These things hit me hard people... I bruise and bleed just like you. I am not bullet proof, though I appear to be. Most days I feel like Dilbert.
So after a great w/e hermitizing, my first day back to work sucked, no suprise here. Though things are getting better, not sure they're getting better for me. Still afraid to grasp at those pin holes of light (it's a trick, I know).
After work I'm trying to throw more stuff out. This house is cursed you know. I ran across a Hollywood Plus II card. Does anyone remember when MPEG 2 worked much better with an add in card? Wondered whether or not to throw it out? What? Geez, it's in the trash now. It's a family trait... trying to throw out something that still works, but none the less is still useless. I'm going to throw out those VooDoo add in cards with the big sexy mem chips also, it'll be hard, but it needs to be done. Just like those Realtek chipped network cards I used to buy by the dozen so that redhat could find the internet... those are trash too.
I realize I'm trying to blog, when what I really need is a shower. So I'm going to say g'night for now and go shower. The chuck roast that's in the smoker should be done by the time I get out.
2/24/2009
So many things to talk about, where to start? Guess I'll start with my sister Susan and
brother in law Pete moving to Boulder City. So good to have family so close. They had one
a heck of a time acquiring this house, glad it finally came through for them. Not only are
they family they are some of the best friends I have. Welcome to Boulder City Pete, welcome
home Susan. I'm glad you're here.
Guess the other thing to talk about is music. I don't update my website (no time) very often. However, I do download (legally, from Amazon) music almost daily. Usually Amazon tries to get me to buy stuff before it's even available. I find it suprising that Information Society has been putting out albums since 2007 and Amazon didn't try to get me to buy it. A year late but not a dollar short, I did... Not disappointed. It's just like Insoc, Gary Numan, Kraftwerk, and Joy Division, went to bed together and had a child. I highly recommend. Of course, I've never heard an insoc tune I didn't like. Saw them at the Shark Club 1980 something. Owned lots of the 12" singles on vinyl... might be a little biased on this review.
The other music I've added is Jill Tracy and Revue Noir. A double dose of "Dark Caberet". I've been looking for a Revue Noir disc for a couple of years... glad it's finally available (or that I found it?). Will probably buy Jill Tracy's 2nd album soon too. Good stuff, check it out.
WARNING! Techno babble to follow, close your browser now if you are not interested. The other thing I did over this last w/e was to install a couple terabyte drives. I cloned my XP install to a 300 GB partition and installed Windows 7 to the other 700 GB then cloned the drive to the other TB drive. Still with me? Tried to run a benchmark (3D Mark 2006) and it "Blue Screened". Bummer, 'cause this machine has 12 GB of memory. The other problem I have with testing beta software is who wants to throw away $200+ licenses to see if the o/s actually works? Not me. I use MicroSoft sofware. It is expensive, it is DRM'd. I won't even throw away a home/student version ($30) of office to see if it works. Let alone a $240 license of Expression Web.
2/19/2009
Another fascinating blockquote from cybernine. I find drinking mass quantities of caffeine when I get home from work helps me accomplish the things I want to get done at the end of the day. Cleaned up my side yard, scrubbed the kitchen floor, and getting ready to do some cut in work on the recently painted bathroom. The problem is... will I be able to fall asleep tonight? I don't know either. Work has been ok this week, won't get my hopes up though. Every time I see a pinhole of light someone tapes a piece of black tape over it. Would try to be more cheery, It's just not in me.
Just know, I find it really hard to tweet or to update the website when I'm in a state of undeniable almost clinical depression. Tonight is the first night I've even come close to feeling normal in over a week. Hopefully this week end I'll feel better. I'll get over it eventually.
Speaking of this week end, my older sister should be moved back to B.C. I'm very happy that she was able to move back to her home town, and closer to where I live! Hopefully we'll be able to get her dinette set and coffee table from my garage over to her house. Always good to have your family close by.
2/8/2009
Getting a good night's sleep and having a day off does wonders for me.
I'm always so wrung out and angry by the end of the work week, as you
can tell from my last rant. I'm much better this morning. Trying to plan
the day now. Think I'll lay around and be lazy most of this morning.
Then go to church at 10. Head over to the grocery store after that. Later
on I might try to paint my bathroom. I'll have to see how ambitious I feel.
2/7/2009
Look! Over two posts in the same year... this blog is smokin! Sorry about the lapse, at least I keep up on twitter. Just been putting in ALOT of time at work, way more than I want to. Can't really get into it, besides I have the next two days off. I don't really want to start it off with a depression session. I'm trying to get over failing everywhere I try, and not being able to sleep at night because of it.
On a brighter note, I finally bought the paint for my bathroom. Wow, I just backspaced over three paragraphs of not so bright and cheery stuff, mostly just awful. Matt, thanks so much for bringing me back to Earth (yes you did). I'd really hate to post anything to spread my misery, upset others, or be self-destructive to myself. Thought a public forum would be good for me, obviously I need a diary or a psychiatrist.
1/10/2009
Good Morning, just back from CES. Ok, actually I returned home yesterday.
I've been sleeping ever since. My legs still hurt. The Las Vegas Convention
Center is huge. There is the north hall (mostly car/ car audio/ car accessory),
the central hall, and the south hall. The south hall has an upstairs and a
downstairs (mostly home theater/ gaming/ home entertainment). If that's not
enough floor space you can shuttle over to the Sands Expo. There is plenty there,
especially if you are a buyer or distributer. Since I'm neither, the
"best of innovation" and robotics are usually the most interesting to me.
I believe all total it's about 1.7 million square feet to cover.
There are a couple people I'd like to thank. My friend Allen. Thanks so much for putting me up (or is that putting up with me?) for a couple days. For the rides to and from Las Vegas and the convention center. I'd also like to thank Samsung. At the Samsung booth I was asked if I had a Samsung phone, which I do. They cleaned my phone, gave me a new battery for my phone and a 2GB mini SD card with a USB card reader. Talk about building brand loyalty. I have two Samsung phones now, and my next phone will also be Samsung.
The Microsoft pavilion seemed noticeably smaller this year. I'm always looking for something new and exciting in their development tools, whether it be Visual Studio or Expression. I didn't see either, maybe I missed it somehow. Of course, I only saw two computers running Windows 7 also. The download of the public beta was supposed to be available on January 9th, demand was so high the servers became overloaded. As of ten o'clock this morning (Jan 10th) it is still not available for download.
The big things at the show this year were to be thin and green. A lot of the new televisions did well at both. Many of the vendors had volt meters hooked to their televisions to show how low power they were. Every booth we went to had thinner and thinner TVs. If your television was more than an inch thick then you were so last year. The thinnest being an LED display that was 17mm thin. Taking pictures of these displays sideways was a challenge as they would virtually disappear.
There were many notable booths this year. I'll mention a few of the standouts. Intel always staffs their pavilion with the friendliest and most knowledgeable people. I sat in on a netbook presentation this year that was most enjoyable. Samsung I've already mentioned but they also had the largest, most beautiful display of flat panels. Thermaltake showed some of the most beautiful high end machines I've ever seen. Hitachi has some of the most visually stunning displays, and the rep we spoke with was extremely personable and smart. The Creative booth is always loud, boisterous, and fun. The Secure Digital booth was amazing, just knowing that soon we'll have 2TB SDHC cards for our phones and cameras. The other people I have to commend are all the people working behind the scenes such as security and food service. From the people who drive the busses to the crossing guards, thanks for getting us there safely. The workers at Fat Burger were a lively bunch for sure. The people who work at the LVCC Starbucks, it's unbelievable you can keep up that pace all day.
1/2/09
Happy New Year all. My first weblog entry since the beginning of 2009. So far this year (two days?) has been a mixed bag. I'll speak of the good. Reconnected with my friend Matt. Been out of touch for a few years, but was really great to hear from him. I've found a church in Boulder City that I really like, the United Methodist Church of Boulder City. They have their services at the senior center (the old library) for now. I hope they'll soon be able to build a church a mere block away from my house. I actually discovered this church on Christmas eve. Thanks Susan! They are very friendly there and everyone is welcome. I highly recommend, service is at 10:00 a.m.
I would speak of the bad that has happened this year (and probably will, eventually)... but who needs it ;-) HAPPY NEW YEAR! all.
12/26/08
Work was rough today. For those of us in the garbage trade (whoops!
I meant to say "waste management"), the next few days are really, really,
busy. Today wasn't as busy as I thought it would be. Christmas trees tend
to fill the trucks up quite quickly and not a lot of people have started
throwing them out yet. I plan to burn mine in the fireplace ;-) The public
dumping area should be a nightmare when I get to work tomorrow. Glad I'm
not working Monday, it will be worse.
12/22/08
Figured if this is supposed to be a blog I better post dates. So chronological. Can't believe the weekend is over all ready. Still have much to do before Christmas. Mailed out the last of the cards today, they're more like new years cards at this point. I'm sure the in town cards will be on time, Saranac Lake? not so sure. Well, I'm off to do some more gift wrapping.
Trying really hard to get this website together. Content is always the hardest for me. I usually have things to rant about. Mostly work most of the time. However, I've had this week off. Mostly been busy decorating the house and wrapping presents.
Just got my new computer parts in from NewEgg . I bought a new motherboard. It's a Gigabyte EX58-UD5, an Intel Core i7-920 processor, and six gigs of G.Skill tri-channel DDR3-1600. Just not sure if I'm up to ripping apart my machine this afternoon or not.
It's Friday afternoon at 2 p.m. I still have yet to finish my website or finish my laundry or put my new parts in my computer. I have a pork shoulder I must cook before it goes bad. The kitchen and bedroom look like Christmas threw up in them. I've so many things to accomplish I'm not sure where to start. Probably going to have to put off installing the new motherboard till tomorrow.