Zel-kun’s Words

A time for family and friends, and a time for sappy Christmas specials on TV.  I hope that whatever you celebrate, and whatever you believe in, you all at the very least had a pleasant time with the people you care about.

Christmas was good, spent Sunday with my mother, Christmas Eve working with a stop at Zai’s parent’s for dinner, and Christmas Day with my father.  Not really much to note, it is always good seeing the family.  Unlike every other year, my father’s family did not have a big get-together.  I have mixed feelings about this.

When I was little, my grandmother would have the whole family at her house.  I would get there in the morning, and watch as the basement filled up with people.  There would be toffee bars and crackers with spray-cheese, there was probably other food, but I didn’t notice that when I was a kid.  Christmas was the perfect opportunity to eat nothing but junk-food.

There were mountains of presents, everyone there had presents to open, turning the basement living room into a blizzard of discarded wrapping paper, each present better than the last.  There was the occasional clothing present in there, but toys were always the bulk.  And then there was always the big present I waited for every year, Leggos.

Every year, my grandmother would buy me a large set of Leggos.  Airports, harbors, space-shuttles, pneumatic cranes, I built them all.  I would grab the box and seal myself in the upstairs spare room for the rest of the evening, not resting until the pile of plastic became whatever building or vehicle it was meant to be.  The cool thing about this is that the small presents always led to the big present.  The year I got the airport, I had two or three smaller presents that were planes.  The year I got the harbor, there were some leggo boats, and so forth.

It was always the perfect Christmas.

Then my grandmother passed on, it was a crushing blow to the whole family.  I never really realized it, but she was the matriarch of our family.

Aftwards, my aunt Vicky took up the reigns of having Christmas.  It was fun and she always had lots of good food.  And at this point in my life, I actually ate something more than toffee and crackers, so I was able to appreciate the food more.  There were no presents, however, only the pleasure of spending time with your family.  Christmas had evolved much like I grew up, things became more mature and sophisticated.

Well… somewhat.  There was one year when my cousin went out to buy some beer, and came back covered in blood.  Turns out he got in a fight, though I can’t remember how it started, but during the course of the scuffle, he was hit in the head with a tire iron.  Fortunately, he wasn’t injured, just a cut.  But seeing a bloody cousin is a very surreal thing to see in the middle of a Christmas party.

This year we didn’t have a party.  Instead, we opened presents at my father’s house, and spent the rest of the day there watching television.  It was nice not to have to drive around, and it ended up being a very relaxing day.  It’s sad that we didn’t get together as a family, but there’s always the next cookout.

So, wishing you a Happy Holidays, Merry Christmas, Happy Chaunukah… or whatever you celebrate…

Zel-kun out.

Here it is, the first day of Winter, December 21st.  Sure, it’s the Winter Solstice, but it’s also something else: my birthday.  Every year, I always look back on what I have done in previous years.  Where have I come from?  Where am I going?  I remember not so long ago when I was working at Wal-Mart on my birthday, and the answer to those questions was, “I have no idea.”

I’ve come far since that day.  I moved to a new state, started a career, built a relationship, got engaged, and now I’ve moved out on my own.  Perhaps it was a late start, but I’d like to think I got my life on track.

I also think of the way my friends have changed.  Gone are the days when a weekend was an unending game of D&D in someone’s basement, gone is the time when a couple of us might call off work to go hang out.  No, we’re adults now, and we have responsibilities… what’s up with that?

There’s Pete, who’s probably changed more in the last couple years than any of my friends.  His story is not mine to tell, but he’s happier than I’ve ever seen him, happy and successful.  Shame I wasn’t able to see that in person, but it’s nice to know that good things can happen to a good person, even if there is hardship on the road.

There’s Paul, who is the largest and most successful child I know.  He owns his own home, has been happily married as long as I’ve known him, and now has a child to support.  He works hard to support his family and I’m sure his son will benefit from having a stay at home mother.  Despite his responsibilities, hanging out with him is the same as it has always been, he loves video games and toys, and refuses to grow up.

Kyle… what do I say about him?  I haven’t seen the guy in a couple years, last time was before I took that month-long business trip.  I’ve talked to him a number of times on the internet, and he’s doing better than I could have hoped.  He went to college and earned himself a degree in graphic design, and even has one of those newfangled things known as a ‘girlfriend.’

Jeff, haven’t seen or talked to him in a long time.  Hope he’s doing well, but I really have no idea.

Friends grow apart it seems on the road to adulthood.  It’s sad, but maybe it’s necessary to move on…

So here I am, on December 21st, 2007…  I have a nice little apartment with my own study, a job I enjoy doing, and a lovely woman to whom I’m engaged…

Yeah, I’m doing a’ight.

Zel-kun out.

Back at my first IT job, at ADC, one of my duties was to build new machines.  Unlike the polished imaging process of larger companies with ghost images and the like, I had to build each individual system from scratch.

I had to use an OS-disc, then load all the system drivers, update windows with the latest patched, join the computer to the domain, install the applications, and do the configurations.  It was long work, but there is a feeling of satisfaction once it was done.  There’s less of that now, with the imagine process really only demanding a few minutes of my time while the rest is done automatically.

One of the applications I had to configure was Microsoft Outlook.  I was amazed by the program, it was able to go to your different email accounts, pull the emails, remember contacts, and even set up a calender.  It was all you needed to organize yourself.

Since then, I installed Outlook at home and have been using it ever since.  But, it had it’s downsides.  It took forever to sync the emails, and while it was connecting to the email server, you couldn’t do much else.  There’s not a whole lot of customization to it, and only email servers that support Outlook can be utilized by Outlook.  This means that services like Yahoo can’t be imported, because Yahoo doesn’t offer that service unless you pay them.

The other day, a co-worker told me about Mozilla Thunderbird, from the same people that make Firefox, which is my web browser of choice.  This co-worker was shocked that I actually used Outlook at home, and urged me to at least try Thunderbird.

So, that night, I went home and downloaded it.

For those who don’t know, Mozilla produces open-source software.  This means it’s free to the public to use and develop.  And despite the notion that ‘anything free isn’t worth having’, the browser it develops is remarkably secure and easy to use.  And with hundreds of extensions and themes, highly customizable.

Downloading and installing Thunderbird took about four seconds, but setting it up took a couple of days.  Thunderbird didn’t support HTTP email, so I wouldn’t be able to import my hotmail account.  Fortunately, being the open-source program it is, someone went ahead and made a webmail extension for it, which, along with supporting HTTP, will enable the use of Yahoo accounts.

The new version of the webmail extension didn’t work, so I spent all last night finding the previous version.  But once I DID find it and install it, configuring it was pretty easy.  So once I had all my email accounts loaded into Thunderbird, it flew like… well, a thunderbird I guess.

So, improved functionality (if a little difficult to set up), faster usage, and a price tag that reads “free.”  It wins my vote.

So, if you want to get a non-suck browser and a non-suck email client, maybe you should visit Mozilla’s site.

http://www.mozilla.com/en-US/

Zel-kun out.

For reasons unknown
I sent email in haiku
I found it funny

A challenge received
To do the same with my blog
I will not back down

To see example
From a crazy fiance
Please read following:

“I have a challenge
Just for you.To see how well
you can put to use

your skill in haiku.
you are to blog about haikus
these, our own, exchanged

And the whole post shall
indeed, be a big haiku
to amuse readers”

A challenge received
A challenge I defeated
Annihilation

Zel-kun is now out
I am finished writing now
Comment in haiku

The illustrious Julie Scott of Perrero has ‘tagged’ me to do this thing where I list ten unusual things about myself then ‘tag’ ten people to do the same.  Viral in a way, I suppose, but far be it for me to pass up an opportunity to talk about myself.  So here goes.

1. I love being mentioned by other people.  Not sure what it is, maybe some ingrained inferiority complex.  Or maybe just part of my huge ego.

2. I have mild OCD.  I often find myself rearranging things so they’re perfectly parallel or symmetrical.  I also must complete anything I start to it’s fullest, I make an effort to do EVERYTHING in an RPG I play, even if I didn’t really want to do so.  Perfect example is bug collecting in Zelda: Twilight Princess.  Boring, innane, and takes for-friking-ever, and the reward is lame.  Still, I felt compelled to do it, because the game would not be complete without it.

3. I love Buffalo chicken and ranch dressing.  Can’t get enough of it, if it’s available at a restaraunt, I always order it.  (I would have mentioned the chili thing… but I think everyone here knows that.

4. Despite being friends with, and being related to, several drug users and drug dealers (I know I grew up in the suburbs, but they exist there too), I have never once done any sort of drug (unless you’re one of those people that counts alcohol.  And even then, I’ve never been drunk, only buzzed).

5. I was in two automobile accidents, that while being two years apart, were with the SAME driver.

6. The first thing I ever wrote was a novelization of the game ‘Legend of Zelda: A Link To The Past.’  It basically followed the game to the letter, but with more dialogue.  The world is better off that the computer I wrote it on (old DOS-based thing) crashed.

7. I love self-describing words.  Words that, in themselves, describe the word.  Examples: Awkward, grandiloquent, and archaic.  Bonus points if you can name others.

8. I have an unnatural hatred of The Flash.  If I get into why, I’ll just make myself angry.

9. I read every single quest in World of Warcraft, I find some of the plots to be the best part of the game.  I often ask members of my team, “Why are we killing these guys?”  The answer, “Because the quest says to.”

10. I once got buzzed on Serbian moonshine during a Sci-Fi pen and paper RPG on New Year’s Eve.  After which I had a lengthy argument with the ship’s computer that he was in love with some little girl on the ship.  The funniest thing was the computer was supposed to speak with a russian accent, and the GM kept it up through the whole argument, much to the amusement of the other players.

Okay… ten people to tag.  I don’t even KNOW ten people.

David N. Scott - Julie did it, now it’s your turn.

Zai

Kyle - Though I doubt he reads this site.

Jeff - Same as Kyle

Dad - It’d be cool, he DOES have a MySpace page after all.

Sabre - Yeah, you won’t do it, but now you’re doubly challenged.

Well, that’s six, really can’t think of any more.

Zel-kun out.

On the radio this morning, I heard the strangest news.  That is, that River Otters are returning to Chicago.  I was unaware there was even such a thing as a River Otter, nor would I have believed one could survive in the Chicago river.  But, there you have it:

http://abclocal.go.com/wls/story?section=news/local&id=5829799

Started work early today.  My part of the city certainly has on odd feel in the early morning in Winter (well, it’s technically still Autumn), the damp, the cold, the darkness, and the distinct lack of people make for a somewhat atmosphere.  At three different points during my two block walk to my car, I could have sworn someone was following me.

The first time turned out to just be my shadow on the wall, the second time it was the wind, and the third time was the crunch of snow as I walked through it.

And people think I’m jumpy.

In other news, Ike Turner died today.  Honestly, don’t care much, but the radio, in ‘honor’ of the event, renamed the Eisenhower Expressway (commonly called the Ike) the Ike Turner, and it was amusing to hear, “Traffic on the inbound Ike Turner will take you 48 minutes.”

It’s even more amusing because I do, in fact, take the Ike Turner in to work.  Hmm… Not sure that sounded right.

Zel-kun out.

It’s officially wintertime here in Chicago, even if it isn’t officially winter (That’s December 21).  The temperature is dropping and the snow is rising, it is beginning to look a lot like the non-demoninational holiday season.

As it turns out, I live in the part of the city that does not believe in the existance of snowplows.  It’s odd because I come from a region of devout snowplowists.  In fact, with the exception of one or two homes, no one shovels their walkways.  I used to not care whether or not walkways were shovelled, mainly because I never had to walk on them much.  My car was always a maximum of twenty steps from my front door.  But now that I usually have to walk at least a block, these walkways turned iceways become pretty dangerous.  When I get a place of my own, I should make it a point to shovel the walk.

The roads aren’t any better.  Until I get to a main road, the street is a solid sheet of ice.  It’s tricky, especially since the streets are loaded with children walking to the school nearby.  You would think the streets around a public school would be plowed…

Mayor Daley, get your arse in gear, for the children!

Other than that, it hasn’t been too bad, other than the freeways becoming jammed because people freak out when the first snow hits.  It’s like they spent the rest of the year forgetting how to drive.

Zel-kun out.

I was driving to work today, and I heard the latest Burger King commercial, it didn’t sound stupid at first, but then I began to think about it… it breaks down like this:

Boss: Hi, welcome to your first day of work!

Employee: Thanks, glad to be part of the team, I quit.

Boss: Wha?

Employee: And I’m going to need to be paid for the time I was here.

Boss: All five seconds?

Employee: Yep.

Boss: You’ve made maybe two dollars.

Employee: Enough to buy something off of BK’s value menu….

And stop.  Now, two dollars doesn’t seem like a lot of money.  But this guy made two dollars in FIVE SECONDS.  That means he makes $24 a minute, and $1440 an hour, which is $57,600 a week, and a whopping $2,995,200 a year.

Wow.

Curious, I did the math to figure out what he would make if he made 2 cents in five seconds, which seems far more realistic.  $29,952 a year, that’s not too shabby, seems like your average job, but you’d need to work more than five seconds to buy something from Burger King.

So get your math right, BK, or else some over-analytical guy with too much time on his hands will call you out on it.

Zel-kun out.