Archive for November, 2004


It’s official

11/9/2004

As of November 22nd I will be once again a full-time employed computer help desk schmuck, as in the regular kind with werk benefits. Yay for me. Up until this point I’ve been doing the contracting thing. Those in the MIS world (Information Systems, i.e. techie jobs) are very familiar with working on a contractural basis. These days it’s almost mandatory and I’ve been doing that for quite a while now.

Even with all these pluses I’ll be getting by going full time, I’m still a bit bummed about the whole thing. I’d rather be doing so much more than just sit in a cube all day taking support calls… like playing music or writing or doing cinema stuff or whatever. You know, creative stuff. But I’m not. Guess that comes later.

Pros and Cons of the situation as it stands:

Pro: Nice check. I’m getting an increase and it will be salaried. And before anyone says “you lucky bastard”, bear in mind I had to work the job on contract for 8 months with absolutely no benefits whatsoever. I definitely did not “fall into” getting hired full time. I had to prove I could do it, and I did. Luck had nothing to do with it.

Con: I sit in a cube all day. Does wonders to numb your mind. Ergh.

Pro: Friendly staff. Everyone is very helpful. Communication is surprisingly good.

Con: Management is still typical of any other company I’ve ever worked for. Six words can describe the experience: Cover Your Ass At All Times.

Pro: Good cafeteria.

Con: No exercise. You can listen to your ass grow during the day.

Pro: Freedom to pretty much surf the ‘net all day inbetween support calls.

Con: Everything you do on the network is monitored and you have to be very careful you don’t do stuff that will put you “on the radar” so to speak.

Pro: Easy job, truly.. provided you have help desk experience.

Con: Very high stress level, if you let the job get to you. There are some people who simply cannot handle help desk. I routinely see people quit because the task placed before them is way too daunting. Help desk is not for the weak.

Pro: I can wear sneakers to work and jeans on Friday.

Con: From Monday thru Thursday I have to wear dress pants and collared shirts. Bleah (but no ties, thankfully).

Pro: If I come to work and I haven’t shaved in a few days, no one cares.

Con: ..except when senior management arrives, where they tell everyone in advance “look your best,” but that doesn’t happen too often so it isn’t that bad.

Pro: 1st Shift Job. Very nice.

Con: I have to get up in the early in the morning to go to werk.

Pro: Everyone is near my age. Nice.

Con: My team lead is younger than me, by two years to be exact. Weird.

I could probably go on all day with this… but I guess in the end this is a positive thing. I am lucky to have what I have. I know this and it’s what gives me my greatest advantage in life. Most people don’t realize what they have until it’s gone.. and that’s almost too easy to do. I think I have the edge in realizing that what I got isn’t bad, at all.

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New monitor (again)

11/9/2004

Okay.. after a lot of thinking, I’ve decided to go with an LCD Flat Panel monitor. The ViewSonic is probably going back sometime this week.. maybe tonight. I just have to figure out whether or not I want to make that long drive (ugh). I just want that piece of crap out of my house.

The monitor I decided to go for is the Sony StylePro SDM-S73. I’ve read a lot of good reviews about this particular product. NewEgg customers love this screen and I admit that customer reviews do influence my buying decisions. However I won’t buy monitors from NewEgg, especially LCD panels. Every single one they sell states “Dead Pixels Policy: Replacement or Refund for 8 or more DEAD PIXELS ONLY!” on the product description so I don’t buy from them. CDW on the other hand will take returns even if you have just 1 dead pixel. So I bought from them instead.

Did I pay more than I should have? Yes - but it just goes to show you that price does not conquer all. A very large part of my buying decision is the return policy. Is it good? Does it suck? NewEgg’s return policies are absolutely horrid. They make you pay for all shipping for returns and then tell you (ONLY if you ask how,) to FAX them proof of receipts and they will credit you what you paid for in shipping charges. Very annoying. Dell on the other hand will usually send a “return waybill” for all warranty replaced parts. You get the new part, put the old part in the box and the waybill covers the cost. Simple. CDW I believe also does return waybills (but not sure).

So anyway, my new Sony monitor is on the way. We’ll see how this one fares out. Oh, and by the way, ViewSonic sucks ass.

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New monitor (again) part 2

11/10/2004

Went to Framingham Massachusetts last night to drop off the monitor and get a refund at the CompUSA over there. That place is where I originally bought my crappy ViewSonic monitor. Fortunately there was no crap when returning it. I was full-on ready to start yelling if they gave me any crap about it, but fortunately they didn’t.

The Sony monitor as stated previously is on its way. Looking forward to it because I haven’t gotten a new ‘puter “toy” in a while. (grin) Should be here before the end of the week. I’m just hoping everything arrives when it should and that nothing is damaged.

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Zonker

11/11/2004

Last nite I went to bed really early.. around 7pm-ish or so. Wow did that feel good. I woke up around 4:30am. What I find particularly interesting is that everyone tries to call or instant-message me whenever I go to bed early.

When I woke up I had whole bunch of instant messages sitting in my Windows taskbar and voicemails in my e-mail (Vonage copies voicemails to e-mail - rock!!). I spent around 15 minutes replying to all those messages. Eesh.

It’s funny that I’m at my most popular when I’m sleeping. Who’da thunk it. (grin)

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LiveJournal at blazing turtle speeds

11/11/2004

You know, I’m really starting to dislike LiveJournal. It’s not the people on it I dislike, it’s the site itself. Reason: SLOW!! I mean yeah, this is what happens when a lot of people use a web site; it slows down to a crawl.

I have a few friends on LiveJournal and I go read their blogs. Sometimes I click and wait and wait and wait and… ARRRGHGHGHGHHH.. it’s like I’m on dial-up all over again. Ugh. So annoying.

Oh well. What ya gonna do.

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Seven the hard way

11/12/2004

Over the course of the next week I am going to try (emphasis on the word ‘try’ there) to complete an album of my music. I have been putting this off for a very long time and I just have to get my nerves together and do it.

I have two completed albums previously. One was a new age thing, the other a techno thing. But I’ve never done one of the music I’m best at: rock/hard rock/metal/whatever you want to call it. So.. this week I’m going to try.

I cannot sing worth a can of beans.. but as they say you can “fix it in the mix”. Besides which, lots of bands out there like Helmet don’t necessarily place huge emphasis on vocals but still sound great.

So.. I’m going to give it a go. Maybe something great will happen, maybe it will be crap. I dunno. But it will be fun trying. (grin)

[--edit--]

Helmet link was wrong - fixed.

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..and the Blizzak’s reign supreme!

11/12/2004

Small note before I tell this story: I live in Connecticut on a paved driveway that is 900+ feet long, goes uphill and is at an almost 25 percent grade at its steepest point.

Today the snow didn’t come. The ice did. We got hit with some freezing rain just before I got home.

About 10 minutes ago, I looked outside and said to myself “Okay, let’s see if these tires live up to their name.” Bear in mind there is a layer of ice on the driveway. Also bear in mind that steep crest near the top.

I back up, turn around and start off - then I purposely give the car gas and mash the brakes. Car stops. Completely. Without hesitation, on the crest. WOW.

I go on down the driveway and purposely mash the brakes a few more times. The car stopped on a dime every time. It was as if there was LIGHT SAND under me, not ICE.

I get to the bottom, turn the car around and go right back up. No problems whatsoever. Unbelievable. Totally un-frickin-believable(!!!!!)

My Blizzak’s are worth every single penny I paid for them. Ice don’t mean a thing to these slicks and neither does snow when it comes. I know now that even when going DOWNHILL on ice, the car will stop, not “maybe” stop, it will stop.

Awesome.

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Poof-da hair

11/17/2004

I woke up this morning with the nastiest morning hair ever. It don’t matter if you’re male or female (unless you’re bald) — there are some mornings when you get up, look in the mirror and just go “gad dang.. that’s some fucked up hair.” But anyway..

Yesterday I got my new Sony SDM-S73 17″ LCD Monitor - FINALLY. Before I write about that, the adventure (if you can call it that) of getting the monitor is worth telling.

This is a really long story so I’m going to make this an extended post. (grin)
(more…)

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Reconstruction

11/18/2004

The blog is going to look a little messed up until I’m done redesigning it.. that whole css select thing was turning into a monster, so I’m going to go with a one-style setup. ;-)

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Blue is blue

11/18/2004

Okay.. blog’s redesigned. Now the blue template is the only one that remains. Yeah I know, this will sadden a view, it was neat to have all those color choices.. but it was a big hassle to maintain(!!) So the blue will stay. ‘Tis my favorate ya know. (grin)

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