Category: Uncategorized Page 115 of 157

I think I may have broken the elliptical trainer on Saturday. Or rather, been on it when it broke. My room-mate and I have noticed the occasional squeak from the machine but disregarded it. I started noticing the squeaking increase, along with a squeal that did not sound normal and called my room-mate downstairs to listen. He got a flashlight as well and tried to see where it was coming from. A few more slow revolutions and we noticed a grinding sound. We switched and I looked while he slowly rotated the pedals. Until he couldn’t. It locked up and refused to budge. I suspect there may be some issue with the brakes – which I haven’t even used yet. So, we’re going to call customer support and get it fixed. It’s only slightly older than a month and already broken.

Got my eCheck done – took only a few minutes and no longer costs anything. Went to the BMV to get my tags renewed and there was no line. The process only took a few minutes there too – I was lucky.

Played more Portal this weekend. Kicked some serious ass. The levels I’m in have automated gun turrets deal with a twisted sense of humor, timed buttons across acid pits, and essentially jumping off a cliff to hit a portal at high speeds to fly straight up out of another portal to reach a higher level. Crazy vertigo.

I took down the Christmas lights in record time this year. The weather was nice(ish) and they came down pretty easily – far easier than when my room-mate put them up before Christmas.

Found some additional missed long hairs on my head – that barber did a real hack job. Looks like I need to find yet another place or buy myself a flowbee.

Blood drive this afternoon. They’ve had a couple people calling me and trying to schedule me for an appointment. I’ve made one, then got a follow up reminder call. These people are way serious.

Well, got a couple of meetings today – better get to it. later…

I played a little more Fable last evening – trying out some new things. I bought a house again this time around and I’m spending money on fixing it up. Other villagers are complimenting me on it frequently. I’m also having my character flirt with pretty much everyone in every village that he comes across. Making a lot of “friends” that way, including one that just handed me a huge freaking sword – pretty much just for being nice to them. As a consequence, I’m using that way powerful sword to kick a lot of ass. I’m also doing a bit more fishing and may enter a fishing contest. One thing that still annoys me is the stupid villagers that get in my way when I’m fighting a Balverine or something. I’ve accidentally killed several people just on the backswing. Good game overall though.

I used the elliptical again last night, trying to get back into the swing of things. 15 mintues – 1.40 miles. Not great – but not bad either. Felt pretty good afterwards too.

Got an email from my sister with an HTML question. That was kinda cool putting the notes together for her on how to set it up – but Vista wouldn’t let me get to my site as a web folder to let me upload a sample.

well, my meetings are stacking up today, better get back to it. later…

I saw “I Am Legend” on the 1st – pretty good film, but there were some plot holes and it got a little weak toward the end. Mostly good effects and good acting – CGI was a little disappointing. I’m going to re-read the book again – see how it compares.

I also watched the movie SkinWalkers on DVD. Ugh. Pointless, lame, and not scary.

My room-mate and I tried to get pizza that evening – but the phone at pizza hut just rang and rang. We thought they were just really busy, it being the first of the year and all, but after further investigation we found that the store had been closed. Another pizza hut in the area took up the delivery for our area and we got our pizza – eventually.

I’m in a little bit better mood today – I guess I got caught up on my sleep finally.

Went swimming yesterday and once again the pool was almost filled with a high school swim team. I think they were doing conditioning or something – in any case, those kids were fast. Really fast. I was feeling pretty good about my ‘slightly over a minute per lap’ – but even two lanes away I was getting tossed about by their wake.

I re-downloaded Portal on my new computer last night and fired it up. The extra power and processing speed really ramped up the game and added a lot to it. I got caught up to where I had been before – and this time around I destroyed most of the cameras, prompting a warning from the computer voice each time. Pretty cool.

I’m hoping for a quiet day today – got one training session this afternoon, but otherwise I’m meeting free. later…

The rest of the week after my trip sucked. Busy as all get-out and cranky. Had some users that were pretty much going after me – despite my best efforts. With the work week over – I hopped in my car and headed to central Ohio to visit my parents for Christmas. My sister and brother-in-law were there too and we opened presents and played games – UNO, dominos, a little poker. I did okay at the UNO and dominos – but I was really bad at poker.

The day after Christmas – my parents, their dog, and I got in their new SUV and headed to Illinois to visit my grandmother. The drive… was very long. Very very long. They had recently gotten a garmin GPS so that was kinda fun, but it was still a long drive. Very long.

We spent a few days with my grandmother at her place – and made a few trips to Wal-mart for various supplies that weren’t really needed, but we were all going a little stir-crazy.

On the 29th, grandma had her annual soup-supper. The potato soup was excellent and I think everyone had a good time – until we were done eating. Most of the people there left early – which turned out to be just as well since everyone left the finished basement for the first floor. And there wasn’t enough room for everyone on the first floor. It was crowded, but we tried to make the best of it. I went to bed around 11:00 – though if that was eastern or central time I couldn’t tell you.

We left the next morning – though not really early enough for my taste. 7 hours in the SUV – then another 2.5 for me back to Akron. I didn’t sleep well on Sunday night – and then was up again for work at 7:00. It was pretty quiet at work yesterday since most people took the day off – but as a consequence I couldn’t get as much done as would have liked.

Went and got a haircut after work – and waited almost a 1/2 hour before I they could start on me. I wanted an all-over same length buzz cut – which should have been pretty easy. I didn’t notice it at the time, but it wasn’t even. I’m going to have to get a mirror and some scissors to clean it up a bit before going out in public again. Disappointing.

I stayed in for New Year’s eve – and watched the Rockin New Years eve. Ryan Seacrest was as fake as usual and Dick Clark seemed marginally better than last year, but it was still tough to watch. I was in bed and asleep by 12:15

I’ve got the day off today and I’m spending most of it hanging out at home – trying to recover.

So, that’s been my holiday. Parts were fun, parts were painfully boring and overall – I’m exhausted. It’ll be nice to get back to “normal” and back into the groove of things.

Oh, and on a final note – I’m on the jury duty list. Starting the day after my birthday. I’m going to have to call the night before and then every evening for a week. Could be nothing – could be the sequestered for the trial of the century. It’s also the first week of classes. Worst possible time…

Kinda of a downer entry for what should have been a really happy time, but I’m just too tired…

I’m up at 6:00 on the second morning, packing up my bags and getting ready to leave. I’m checked out and downstairs with all my stuff by 7:00 – ready to leave to head to the office for another day of training. The rest of the crew is a little late but we still get there just as the trainers are arriving.

The training is less relevant to what I need to learn, but I took plenty of notes and tried my best. I checked my email a few times since we were online and we took a short break early on for some breakfast. The rest of the morning went slowly and we broke for lunch a little after noon. The trainers drove us over in two cars and our car got a little lost. Lunch was burgers – served outdoors right on the bay. It was really beautiful there – but my table spent most of the time talking shop. I finally said, “Look! The ocean!” – but they didn’t really get it.

Lunch dragged on a bit and though I didn’t really want to go back into the training room – I also thought we had wasted a bit of time. My co-worker and I had to leave to catch a flight at 6:41 and we got ready to go a little after 4:00. The driver was supposed to pick us up at the training center, but we got word that they were at our hotel – ironic considering we had to drag our bags from there at 7:00 AM that morning. One of the trainers agreed to drive us and our bags back to the hotel – but when we arrived, no driver. The trainer made some calls and a driver finally arrived – in a stretch limo. Calling himself ‘the rescuer’, the driver loaded up our bags and we got into the back of this well appointed, but not terribly well maintained, limo.

The delay got us on the road a bit later, and we were in traffic in a residential neighborhood. Suddenly, a gate at a house was opened and a dog ran out into traffic – right in front of the limo. We heard a thump and when I looked back, the dog was running in traffic and ran back to the house and the gate. The driver stopped the car and one of the residents came up. The driver apologized and said he would come back, but that he had to drop us off. The resident started yelling about the driver getting out or the cops would be called. The driver decided that the situation would only get worse and drove off. We managed to get to the airport in time, but it was a little close. I took my bag with me on the plane and we got assigned new seats as we boarded – giving us more room on the undersold flight.

In Atlanta we ate near the re-assigned gate – fortunately, since they started boarding early. We were packed in there for the final leg of the flight and got a bit delayed in leaving. The plane was small and there was only one flight attendant. She did a good job, but I could tell she was tired. Finally arrived at Akron/Canton airport and got our stuff together. My co-worker dropped me off at home and I took a quick shower and went to bed. Long freaking couple of days. I liked the weather – what I saw of it down there – but I was still glad to be home.

I’ll have some more notes later – but it’s time to get back to work…

So, I’m up at about 4:45 AM on Monday morning – on the internet, checking on my flight. It’s still on, so I wake up my room-mate to drive me to the airport. I get there without any trouble, then get checked in. I also check my bag – which turned out to be a mistake – but head on down to the security checkpoint. I’d also like to point out that the clerk at the counter told me that I would have to recheck my bag in Atlanta as I was on standby there. While in line, but still not that far along, I realize that I have my co-workers boarding pass as well as my own. Not sure if that will be a problem for him, I head back to the check-in area, find a phone, and leave a message for him. And wait for him until too much time passed and I got nervous. Back to security and through the checkpoint – then waiting at the gate area. My co-worker arrives and we chat for a bit before boarding.

The plane at the akron canton airport was kind small and we were packed in there pretty well. Everyone was trying to make the best of the situation – but then we found out that we couldn’t move – the ground was too slippery and the buggy couldn’t pull us to the de-icing station. Plan B was to bring the de-icing truck to us, but that didn’t work either. So, eventually, the captain decided on Plan C – pull the gates away from the plane and use the engines to make the plan do essentially a 180 at the gate area and power on down to the de-icing station. Which was a little weird, but it worked. Plan de-iced and finally on the runway – 3rd in line. Finally in the air – and my co-worker and I are pretty sure we’re going to miss our connecting flight.
I couldn’t get to my paper stash – so I re-folded my 14 piece emergency stash over and over until we landed.

When we land in Atlanta, I go to claim my bag while my co-worker checks on the next flight – since there’s no way we’ll make ours. He comes back to me at the baggage area in a hurry and says the clerk will get us on a plane – but that my bag has already gone on to Miami. Great.

We get some over-priced Arby’s and get to the plane on time. I’m better prepared on paper and give leave a complex module behind for the flight attendants. We meet our driver and go to pick up my bag. My baggage claim ticket is ignored and they lady tells me to just pick up my bag if I see it. Which I do and we’re on the road.

In route to the hotel, we get a call from the company and ask the driver to re-route and take us to the office instead. We finally arrive and head right into training for 3 hours. Finally take a break at 6 and walk to the hotel. Our directions are bad, but we finally get there – to find that the rest of the crew that was flying in for the second part of the training has just arrived at the hotel. I’m reminded of the Home Alone scene where the mother drives cross country with a polka band to get to her son – and the rest of the family arrives moments later from a standby plane trip.

A quick change of clothes and we head out to dinner. I’m dressed to try and blend in – everyone else still looks like they are from Ohio. Dinner was at Los Rancheos and it was good – I had the red snapper, beans and rice, and plantains. As expected with a bunch of geeky guys on a trip – the humor warped and the stories are un-repeatable.

After dinner we walk around for a bit until we quickly get to a bad section of town and turn around. One co-worker stops to buy a sandwich for a homeless guy so we wait for that to be prepared. It’s after 10 before we get to the hotel and I call it a night while the rest of the crew heads to the bar. The shower is hot, the bed is king-sized, the pillows inviting. I set a wake up call for an early morning of more training and go to bed.

Gotta go out of town on some training with one of my co-workers – heading to Miami. We’ve been planning this for a few weeks and while I don’t really mind flying, there’s a lot of variables to consider. My room-mate has been trying to help, but he sorta ended up making me feel a bit more apprehensive. Plus, the 20/20 story on lost/stolen luggage didn’t help.

So, this morning at about 10 minutes to 10 o’clock, I’m in the bathroom taking care of some last minute business when my room-mate knocks on the door and says my boss is on the phone. A few moments later I’m on the phone and the news is not good.

The flight, supposed to leave at 12:00 today – has been canceled.

So, he and I shared some intel with my co-worker about the next step. My co-worker has talked to Delta and managed to get us rescheduled. The soonest flight is tomorrow morning at 7:15 AM – meaning that even if everything goes exactly right – we’ll still be at minimum 4 hours late to the training. Which sucks since we are only going to be there through noon on Tuesday anyway.

Strangely enough, the airport website listed the flight as on-time. Apparently, they suck.

I’ve got all my stuff re-printed out and I guess I’m ready to go for tomorrow. So, I’ll be up at 4:00 AM – on the computer, checking the airline website to see if my flight is still on.

later…

My room-mate wanted some address labels printed up and he had several sheets of unmarked blank labels. So, I measured the labels, fired up the internet and figured out the size/style – Avery 5160. I next fired up word and looked for a template. Ummm… there weren’t any. So, I checked the help area and tried to find a place to download the correct set up. Poorly organized and missing, you know, the standard ones. Everything was holiday or jelly jar labels. I finally downloaded a christmas one that I figured I could hack to make functional and plain – but then I noticed a label setting in word 2007. In a few minutes I had selected the correct size and added in the address. Hit the print button and it asked me to save the file in an .xps format. Which isn’t one I was familiar with, but oh well. And then nothing happened. I closed word and then tried to reopen the file I just created. It wasn’t recognized. Wait, what? Word forces me to save a file in a format that even it doesn’t recognize? That hardly seems fair. And it had also set up an .xps printer for me that wouldn’t work either.

I ended up using delete and then copy and paste to turn the holiday one into something more plain. It works, but the formatting is messed up on the first label in the batch. So, the best we can get from one sheet is 29 labels. So, a sort of success, but more work than it needed to be.

In other news… I checked a local computer parts/cable store at lunch yesterday for the part I needed. Once I finally got someone’s attention, they didn’t have a clue. They checked with someone better stocked in clues and determined they didn’t have anything even close to what I needed.

In a way, I feel a little better that the “experts” are clueless – I was thinking I was behind the times on my tech stuff. I did find the part on-line and got it ordered – though even that was weird. After I got my order confirmation, they suggested I could avoid delays by giving them the last four digits of my social security number in order to verify. Instead, I gave them some harsh comments on their feedback form.

My drive back from Chipotle yesterday at lunch time was interrupted by a traffic cop. He was in the middle of the street and I was unfortunately the first car in the group he stopped. Accident? Construction? Visiting dignitary? Nope. He stopped a bunch of cars on Market street (one of the busiest in all of akron) so that people could leave a restaurant parking lot.

Now, your first thought may be – “are you shitting me?” And I can reply that no, I’m not. It really happened. I’m sitting there in my car, my burrito slowly cooling in the seat next to me – full of crankiness.
Based on what I could see in the opposing lanes, they must have been around 40-50 cars stopped so that the lunchtime restaurant crowd could leave their parking lot. Ummm… nobody stopped traffic so I could pull out of Chipotle. Or the parking lot at work. Or my driveway at home. Or the gas station. Or the bank. It felt like I was there for 600 years, but eventually the cop let the rest of the traffic go. If memory serves, my car was home to some harsh language on my way back to work.

Watched a movie last night – The Reaping. The premise wasn’t bad – but the movie was full of plot holes and sub-par acting. The “big twist” was amazingly obvious and trite – but even with all that against it, the movie was kinda fun. And the special effects really ramped up at the end, as though they knew it was bad and were trying to make up for it.

That’s it for now… later…

My jaw is still bothering me this morning. I’m still thinking it’s stress and it will get better once things settle down a bit. Of course, I’ve got some traveling to do in a few days – so, I’m guessing that I’m not quite done with the stress. Fortunatly, most of the whole process is out of my control so that should help a bit.

In my travels last evening, I went into Radio Shack – looking for a computer cable. The sales dude looked at me liked a grown a second head when I described what I was looking for. Needless to say, they didn’t have it – but at least he was able to recommend another place to try.

Also went to target and Babies R Us for the baby showers coming up. I’m glad there were gift registry’s for both events as I was totally out of my element. Target’s was better – the aisles were labeled and the item codes were clearly marked. I got everything wrapped and I’m going to make some origami ducks for the packages. Might even be able to skip the cards as the origami will make it very clear who they are from.

The computer issues yesterday slowed me down a bit and the afternoon was a mess. Oh, and I’d like to go on the record about something. We’ve been trying to hire a student assistant for our group and had a discussion yesterday in out meeting about the two candidates. My colleagues? Totally worthless in this area. I could not believe some of the comments – and I started to get a little cranky with them. I’d be better off rolling some dice. Not that I’m going to do that – I’m going to do this the right way. But still, for the record, totally worthless.

Guess that’s about it for now… time to get moving… later

Computer woes. I’m only going to write this to down to preserve it for the ages. And the biggest problem was that I was trying to be clever – which has never, EVER, worked for me.

1. Remove hard-drive from non-working home Gateway
2. Remove HD from old working work Dell
3. Install HD from home to work Dell.
4. Boot
5. Error – you must activate windows. Which didn’t work. Apparently, microsoft locks the software to the hardware configuration – which totally sucks. I even tried calling them and got nowhere.
6. Can’t add the home HD as a slave since I’ve only got one port in the machine.

So, I’m going to try and use a SATA/IDE cable to connect the old hard-drive to my new work machine as a drive, the get the data off of there. And then I’m going to delete everything else on there and melt it down with the sheer force of my burning will. Should be fun.

My uncle called last night – he asked for the help desk. Apparently my cousin was working on a paper for school and the computer didn’t have enough memory to print the pictures. I gave him some suggestions and they said they would call back if they had trouble. They didn’t call back so I guess my status as a first level geek is still okay.

Played Final Fantasy again last night – took on two more big-ass monsters. The dinosaur I set on fire a bunch of times until he killed off some of my characters – them I took him out with some specialized super cool partially automated combat moves that drained all the characters magic – but did the job. The big winged dragon was tougher and I had to follow the stragety I found on-line – which was this:

1. Hide behind a rock so he can’t reach you
2. Reflect his magic back at you
3. Throw lighting bolts at him until he dies.

Which was fine until my characters ran out of magic. They were reduced to throwing money at the dragon – which seems kinda lame, but worked.

In other news… I’ve got two baby showers to buy for. Not that I’m going to attend as I think those things are almost painfully boring, but babies need stuff and I’m happy to help out with that part.

And lastly – my jaw hurts. Like a TMJ kinda hurt. Must be stress.

Well, busy day – gotta get back to it… later…