Time Marches On

Yeah, I know it’s March.

I barely had a chance to see February.  It was busy, had a store build, was sick for a solid week, then spent the last week just playing catch-up.  Now, as the new month begins, I’m trying to get more organized.

My workload has increased, but in a good way, I think.  My office has recently become an HP certified partner.  What this means is that I can now crack open laptops and non-user repairable parts without voiding the warranty.  Because HP will credit us for the time we spend fixing things they used to send techs out for, it will be a huge cost-cutting measure for us.  Since I’ve taken apart pretty much everything I could get my hands on since I was two-months old, I dove right in.  Now, I’m the go-to guy for hardware repairs around here.  Being as I enjoy doing it, and time absolutely flies while I’m fixing things, it’s a good thing, even if it is getting to the point where I can’t see my desk.

Guess I’ll just need to work harder.

Oddly enough, as my work has gotten somewhat more enjoyable, my leisure time has become somewhat less so.  And I have Microsoft to thank for that.

Jerks.

I was surprised at myself when I bought the X-box 360 awhile back, Microsoft somehow having created a system I would prefer over Nintendo and Sony.  For the most part, I have loved it, but with the 360 came something dark and insidious into my household.  I invited it in like a demon, and now it feeds off my very soul, leaving me weak and despondent.  I called in several exorcists, and they all have run away screaming, crossing themselves as they fled.

I speak, of course, of achievements.

For those blissfully ignorant, an achievement is an objective in a game.  When you meet the conditions for the achievement, it will permanently show up in your gamer profile, which looks you in the face every time you turn on the system.  Not only does it list the achievements you have, but it’ll show you the achievements you DON’T have.  Every. Single. Time.

For an obsessive person like me, this is a problem.  When I see something amiss or incomplete, it drives me nuts.  It’s like a little demon inside my brain scratching its claws against my skull.  I have wrung my hands when I see a crooked picture on TV, wishing I could straighten it, I have been distracted during a meeting by someone who had one sideburn slightly longer than the other.  Now, when I see those empty, unfinished achievements, I am compulsed to get them.  I HAVE to.

Sometimes, this isn’t so bad.

Get 100% on a song on Expert in Rock Band?  Difficult, but fun getting there.

Assasinate all your targets in Assasin’s Creed without them noticing?  Frustrating, but ultimately satisfying.

Many achievements are like this, but some take FOREVER.

The achievement I’m working on right now, is discovering all locations in Two Worlds, which is the very last achievement in the game, making it the second game I’ll have gotten all the achievements on.

The problem with this achievement is that Two Worlds… well, it kinda sucks.  It’s a typical hack and slash RPG, done as horribly as such a thing can be done.  It’s poorly programmed, unbalanced, stutters and freezes (unforgivable for a console game, imo), and I have to wonder if the plot and voice acting were purposely done as badly as they are.  When I bought it, I played it for a few hours, unlocking nearly half the achievements.  I was already there, so I decided to finish the game.  Unfortunately, this was before I had Xbox live.  This means the game did not get a critical patch, which fixed a glitch that prevented getting the discovered all undergrounds achievement.  So despite spending countless hours uncovering the map, I did not get the achievement.  Worse than that, the patch is not retroactive.

So here I stand again, running through the buggy wilderness, discovering location after location, in a bid to unlock an achievement I have, by all rights, already earned.  But on the plus side, once I finally complete it, that’ll be one less thing I have to worry about, and I can focus on getting other achievements on games I actually enjoy.

Zel-kun out.

January Already?

Yeah… January 20th and finally found the time to post.  I’d like to say it’s been constantly crazy, bu that’d be a lie.  I could have found time to post, but I just didn’t, it was just the furthest thing from my mind for some reason.  I picked up a new MMO, Aion, which I will be sure to write about, so that’s been taking up some of my time.  I built my dad a new computer and taught him how to use it, so there’s another chunk of time.  Then I sat in my recliner, and there’s a while other chunk of time. 

Things have been pretty busy at work, which is a good thing.  We’re opening stores, which is also a good thing.

I’d love to say more… but it took all day to write this between hectic parts of the day, and now I must go home.

Zel-kun out.

December

Can’t believe it’s been nearly a month since I updated last.  Life just kinda got away from me.  It’s been busy at work and busy at home.  My mailbox broke, of all things, so I spend a few minutes every day handing it back up on the wall properly.  Just as well, I suppose, it’s old and ugly anyway.

Zai texted me at work a couple weeks back and said our sewer exploded.  What she meant was that the floor drain in the basement is backing up.  Doesn’t seem to be to severe, but it’s making a nice little mess around it nonetheless.  I picked up some industrial strength drain remover from Menards.  There are dozens of warnings on the side, including, and I kid you not, exploding back out of the drain after I pour it in.  I haven’t used the stuff yet, but I’m pretty sure that if I meet an untimely end, it will be due to this stuff reaching up out of the drain and pulling me under.

I found out that I hate yardwork considerably less when it’s my own house I’m working on.  I’ve been raking every week until my green lawn refuse bin is full, then I save the rest for the next week.  It’s been working pretty well so far… although I’m not looking forward to shoveling the feet of snow that are sure to fall any day now.

For those hip on the latest Verizon news, we released the Motorola Droid (utilizing Google’s OS, Android) in November, with a fair level of success.  The upshot for me is that all the important people here upgraded to this latest phone, meaning I get to scavenge the discarded phones.  Obviously, when you’re in IT, most people ALREADY had the latest, to I managed to get my hands on an HTC Touch Pro 2, which is still one of the best phones out there, only a few months on the market.  It runs on Windows Mobile, which turns a lot of people off, but I personally love it.

While if you really want to know about the phone, you can visit a dozen news sites Google could bring up, here are the highlights of the phone:

1. Responsive Touch Screen

2. Tilt-Sensitive

3. Links contacts to Facebook, updating your contacts with pictures

4. Built in MP3 trimmer to make any MP3 a ringtone.

5. Built in photo editing.  Not quite photoshop, but nothing quite like doodling on a photo and sending it back to a friend.

6. Weather forecast, and if you’re in the calender, will tell you the predicted weather for the selected day.

7. Automatically goes to speaker mode when phone is placed face down.  On top of that, a built in noise-cancellation speaker makes it conference-call worthy.

8. Full keyboard

9.  And of course, built on Windows Mobile which means there’s lots of software out there to customize it.

But, of course, there’s a few drawbacks…

1. Not quite as efficient at sending texts.  Still pretty fast, but not what I’m used to with the Voayger.

2. The VZ Navigator (GPS) is fairly slow to load up and find routes compared to other phones I’ve had.

3.  I would liked to have seen an external button to trigger the camera, like the last two phones I had.  Instead I either have to set an internal button to bring it up, or navigate to the camera via the touchscreen.

4.  There is no CityID available for it, which used to tell me from what city a number was coming from.

But, given the pros and cons, I’m still loving this phone.  It’s pretty responsive, and most operations are quick.  If I could find myself a CityID application, I’ll be good to go.

Zel-kun out.

Now and Later

I hate Now and Laters.  They’re like sadistic Starbursts.  They look soft and chewy but they’re hard as a rock.  Taste delicious though…

Anyhow…

One of the good things about this difficult financial time is that I know it’ll pay off in the long run.  It’s not about living paycheck to paycheck, it’s about making a sacrifice now for a payoff in the future.  Careful financial planning can definitely pay off.

I didn’t need to buy a house right now.  I could have easily lived in my apartment a couple more years, which would be financially beneficial in the short run, but detrimental in the long run.  That money I’d spend on rent I’ll never see again, and I’ll have nothing to show for it.  On top of that, the first-time home-buyer’s credit was this year only, so combined with the rent, staying another year in the apartment would have cost me $16,000.  That’s money I’ll never see again.

I didn’t need to buy a new furnace right away.  After some tinkering, we got it to work somewhat.  It likely could have kept us warm the rest of the winter, and we could have saved up for a nice new furnace and bought it next year when money would be less tight.  However, I would spend the winter with a low-efficiency furnace, which will make my utility bills a lot higher than they’d be otherwise.  Combine that with the tax credit available this year for getting a high-efficiency furnace, and it nearly pays for itself in the first year.

I didn’t need to overpay my mortgage these last couple months.  I probably could have really used that extra money, we could definitely have gone out a few times, and maybe I wouldn’t be having a $0.62 can of Spaghettios for lunch every day.  But I compared my statements, and it looks like overpaying by just a few hundred dollars these last two months knocked the equivelent of six months out.  Interest is a killer, and that few extra hundred saved me several thousand dollars.

It’s really given me something to think about, and also makes me a lot happier as I sit here at my desk eating Spaghettios with a plastic spoon.

The reason I mention all this is for my younger readers (if they exist), who might just be starting to head out on their own.  It’s too easy to dive headfirst into things and only think about the here and now.  By making choices with some forethought, you can avoid a lot of hardship in the long run and come out on top.

Zel-kun out.

Overtime in Warsaw

Picked up some more overtime Friday night.  There was a project to move a sales counter in Warsaw, Indiana, and it was a great opportunity to pick up some extra hours.  I was honestly a little nervous.  I’ve supported counter moves and remodels before, but always as a secondary.  This time I was heading out alone, over a hundred miles from the office, and well after hours.  There was no safety net, this time it’s for real.

I started my day at noon, the boss wanted to try to recuperate some of the overtime he knew I’d have by the end of the day.  Zai made some coffee and a batch of cinnamon rolls for breakfast, and spent the morning honing my skills in Rock Band, which has been my ongoing addiction since I bought it.  I didn’t end up getting any extra sleep, as usual, I woke up around 7:00am, even without the alarm.

I got to the office, took one last look at the floor plans for the counter move, and headed out.  I needed to stop in Merrillville to replace some faulty equipment, which went pretty well.  The new Motorola Droid was on display, which, by the way, is one of the coolest phones ever, and I played around with it a bit.  It was the launch, so I picked up some free cookies and a bottle of water, score.

I wanted to grab lunch at the Quiznos I used to eat at every day when I worked at Wal-Mart, but sadly, it is closed.  It’s sad, really, their sandwiches by far outclassed their rivals.  I still see the commercials on TV, so I know they’re fighting.

I arrived on site and scoped it out.  The store was still open, so I spent some time talking with the store reps and getting an idea for where everything was moving.  Just before closing, the low voltage vendor arrived, and we discussed what work he needed to complete.  One of the key factors for the move to be completed successfully is ensuring that there is proper data running from the switch to the computers.  The switch and the computers are my job, the cabling is done by the low voltage wiring vendor.

Shortly thereafter the electricians, carpet guys, and fixture guys arrived, and began tearing up the store.  I set to work dismantling the computer set ups and moving them out of the way, then wandered around to make sure everything was going smoothly.  Of course, it wasn’t.

The store manager came up to me, “Hey, something just happened.  My computer shut off, and I need to close out the store.”  I walk back to his office, and sure enough, there’s no power to the outlets in the room.

I ran up to the electricians, “Did you shut off the power in that back office?”

“Yeah.”

“Well, we need to turn it back on, the manager hasn’t finished the closing procedures.” I reply.

“We were told we could start by now.”

“Well, the store manager needs to close the store, so the power needs to be turned back on,” I say, “so that needs to happen.”   It was odd, the electrician, a man who easily rivals my father in both age and stature, grimaced at me, but ran back to the power cabinet to get the juices flowing nonetheless.  Here I was in a sea of people both older and more experienced than I, but they were all vendors, which meant it was my responsibility to keep them in line and put out little fires like that.  I’ve been unofficially in charge of new employees and such in the past, but it was my first time really managing a project.  There were a couple other little things that popped up… but really nothing major.

In the end, everything went fairly smoothly and the work was completed about 3:00am.  I had a long drive back, but it was a drive back after a successfully completed project, which felt pretty good.  I stopped for coffee and drove with the windows down occasionally trying to keep myself awake.  I ended up stumbling in around 6:00am, passing out before my head hit the pillow.

I woke up around 9:30am, still fully clothed and even still had my shoes on, I tried to sleep a little longer but couldn’t.  I think I trully am a day person now.

Zel-kun out.

The Great Furnace Replacement

It finally happened.  The men came today and installed a brand-new high-efficiency furnace.  I have not seen it yet, being at work, but Zai tells me it’s nice, warm, and perhaps most importantly to my sanity, quiet.  I look forlornly at my 0nline bank statement, which lets me know I have a total of $65 to my name, but I know it’ll pay off in the end.  After all, even though we managed to patch up the old furnace and make it barely work, and even if it lasted the winter, next year there may not be that tax credit.  So while it’s tough, come spring, good ol’ Uncle Sam is going to have my back.

Hopefully, this will be the last big expense for awhile.  Our living room is furnished, our roof is solid, and our furnace is new and efficient.  There’s still lots of small improvements to do around the house, but that’s it for the big stuff… hopefully for awhile.

Once money starts flowing in again (happening at a quicker rate thanks to my leaping at any overtime that comes along, and an understanding boss that knows I need it), I can start on turning the basement into a livable space.  It already has walls, tiled floor, and ceiling, so there’s just finishing the trim and maybe throwing down some area rugs.  It’s going to be the lounge, and I can’t wait to get that going.  We already have our old furniture sitting down there, so we don’t have to buy new stuff.

Slowly but surely, it’ll become our dream house.

Zel-kun out.

Tightening The Belt

So, since word of the ‘Great Furnace Replacement’ hit us the day after we bought a coffee table and end table set (hindsight, eh?), Zai and I have been severely cutting back as far as our finances are concerned.  As it is, we’re scraping every dollar we can together to get through these next couple of weeks.

It was to the point where when we were grocery shopping, we actually had a long discussion as to whether or not we could afford to get a $2.59 bottle of Tobasco Chipotle sauce, which happens to be my condiment of choice.  Zai’s mother, who was with us at the time, overheard the conversation and expressed concern, later telling Zai that we could use her credit card to buy food.

While I do appreciate this, I realize I probably made our financial situation seem more dire than it actually is.  I’m very tight-fisted when it comes to finances, which means I consider all my lines of credit to be untouchable.  If the situation got really bad, I could easily pull out of the cards I have that usually don’t have balances on them.  So, to those who’ve expressed concern, I’m sorry that I worried you, between my overtime and Zai’s burgeoning business, we’ll be fine.  If you’d like to help out someone who’s really in need, I would suggest you check out Boil Some Water.

We’ve taken a lot of steps to save money, mainly with careful meal planning and hunting down the best values at the grocery store.  I’ve saved lots of money by bringing my lunch to work, which amounts to about $10 a week as opposed to $7-10 a day.

So, that being said, things aren’t bad, just tight.  At least until that next paycheck comes in.  And that’s the important thing to remember in this recession, there’s another paycheck coming in, and that’s something I’m grateful for.

Zel-kun out.

Suburban Halloween

This October 31st, I find myself on call, which means I need to be lassoed to my laptop in case anything happens with our critical systems.  So far, things haven’t been so bad, just a couple minor fires to put out, nothing that couldn’t be solved with my laptop and a phone call.  I spent the morning straightening up around the house and raking up some leaves.  I had barely cleaned the debris off the sidewalk and driveway before I filled up the large landscape waste container.  It’s not perfect, but at least the trick-or-treaters have a clean path to my doorstep now.

Zai is really getting into the Halloween spirit, which is no surprise.  According to her, it’s the Wiccan holiday known as Samhain.  She always gets happy around the Wiccan holidays, she practically floats around.  This is especially true today, because for the first time we have trick-or-treaters.  In the city, especially in a second-floor apartment, costumed kids didn’t really come by.

Kids have come by several times today, with their mothers overseeing them from the sidewalk.  I’ve been sitting here and watching her greet the children, marvelling at how different everything is from living on the South Side.  Outside the window is a sea of foliage, the trees still hold onto many of their leaves, but many more litter the lawns and walkways, they’re almost hidden beneath a bed of leaves.  If we didn’t insist on raking every year, I’m sure this neighborhood would be buried by now.

We finally activated our free trial of Netflix, and activated it through our X-Box.  Right now, we are streaming ‘My Cousin Vinnie’ over Wi-Fi, and it is flawless.  It started instantly, and I have not seen a single stutter or jitter.  With direct digital downloads, we are truly moving towards an era where having a large media library will not necessitate have an actual physical library.

The X-Box Marketplace is a perfect example of how to do it properly.  If I want to purchase a game or an addon, I spent money on it.  Then my account gets flagged that I did in fact purchase and have the license to that content.  I may download it, or should I choose to delete it at any point, I can simply log in and download it again.  It’s like having my own personal repetoire, without taking up neither precious space on my hard drive, nor filling up my living room with discs.

What can I say… it’s the wave of the future.

Happy Halloween!

Zel-kun out.

Anger & Temperence

I’ve often prided myself on being able to restrain my anger.  As a child, I lashed out and called people names, and even shoved and thrown punches on occasion.  It seemed I was angry at everyone, and even the slightest thing could set me off.  I’m happy to say that things don’t tend to get to me the way they used to, a lot of things tend to bounce right off of me.  Everything else slams into what I call the Anger Buffer.

We all have it, some more than others.  It’s that shield of calm and rational thinking that absorbs things that might otherwise make you angry.  Say someone cuts you off in traffic.  Sure, it’s upsetting, but you rationalize that maybe that person didn’t mean to cut you off.  Maybe he’s in a hurry, and besides, no one was hurt, right?

Five minutes later, someone ELSE cuts you off.  It affects you a little more this time.  There was no reason for that, why’d he cut you off?  You’re able to be polite and abide by the rules of the road, why can’t they?  Don’t they see you have a child in the back seat you’d like to see live into her adulthood?

And five minutes after that, a third person cuts right in front of you.  You lay on the horn, you scream, maybe you even produce a protruding middle finger.  Congratulations, the constant barrage broke through your anger buffer.  It’s just like a shield you might have in a sci-fi game.  It can take shots, and then it takes some time to recharge, same concept.  It’s the upkeep and maintenance of these shields that keep us from lashing out at each other on a daily basis.

This week manged to slowly deteriorate that shield.  I have a co-worker, who shall remain nameless, who’s been pushing my buttons all week long.  It seems this person took every opportunity to boss me around and question my competence possible.  This person is neither my boss, nor a senior tech, so there is no legitimate authority to be wielded over me.  Today it got to the point where I clenched my fists and just had to walk away before I did something extremely stupid.

I carried the anger I built up over the week throughout the rest of the day, compounding with every minor thing that happened afterward.  If my phone rang, I grimaced, when I saw a ticket appear in the queue, I gritted my teeth.  Every tiny little occurrence was a splinter in my eye, things I would normally not even have given mind to.

I don’t like being in a state like that, because I ended up unleashing some of that anger on my dear wife, Zai.  I was angry when I shouldn’t have been, she just took the brunt for someone else, and for that I’m sorry.  It isn’t a pleasant thing to have your Anger Buffer broken, because even the little things seem to set you off.  I now sit here at my desk with a Disorrono Zai has lovingly prepared for me, on a brisk and rainy Friday evening.

Let the reconstruction begin.

Zel-kun out.

The Corset Tree

So, for the longest time, Zai has wanted to go into business for herself.  And I’m proud to say that she has finally made all the arrangements to do so.  She has started an ebay store that specializes in corsets… a corsetry (maybe not a word, but the source of my little play on words up there), as she’s been calling it.  She’s been a huge fan of these body-shaping apparatuses for years now, and she decided she can make a decent profit importing and selling them.

Her first wholesale shipment came in yesterday afternoon and she was practically bouncing around the house.  Our coffee table was stacked high with corsets, and they weigh a ton.  They’re not just cloth, there seems to be quite a bit of metal sewn into these things.  As my lovely wife informs me, it is the mark of a true corset if there’s steel in there.

So, for my discriminating female readers (or male, hey, I don’t judge), I present to you, Elegant Enchantment.

Zel-kun out.