Archive for December, 2004

Cocoa Christmas Memories

Saturday, 25 December 2004

My sister has been staying with pop and I for a few days before she heads off to Massachusetts (and then back to St. Kitts in the West Indies which is where she goes to school). So, the whole family is here.

So far, good holiday experience. I’m sipping cocoa. It tastes good. Very bad for me; it’s all full of sugar. I don’t care. It’s Christmas Day. (grin)

All of us are in good health. Dinner earlier this evening was very good. The day has been calm and relaxing - the way it should be.

My pop has been watching football on television all day. My sister has been making phone calls and reading mostly. I have also been making calls and getting some stuff done on the computer.

I’m lucky.

Very lucky.

I have my health, my family, a few bucks in the bank and a good state of mind.

And my cocoa. (grin) Christmas Day was a good day this year.

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Maybe newer isn’t better

Monday, 27 December 2004

I finally got the DVD disc set for Star Wars (the original three which are episodes IV, V and VI). In each movie I noticed George Lucas once again decided to change small parts here and there. This makes a total of three different versions of the trilogy set. There’s the original (obviously), then the remastered VHS edition and now the DVD edition.

The movies are great with them all being so nice and crystal clear. The director’s commentary is also very good - and yes I actually listen to that stuff. I think it’s cool to find out how movies were made.

Around half way through The Empire Strikes Back I started getting a sinking feeling in my heart. The message going through my mind was more or less the following:

“Wow. So clear. So vibrant. So perfect. Too perfect.”

Yeah. Too perfect. Everything just looks too good. It seems as if all the movies lost that cool cimenatic film look, replaced with cold digital perfection.

Love it or hate it, Star Wars is Star Wars. But in my humble opinion, sometimes this digital thing goes a little too far. Film is not meant to be perfect. The human eye prefers something more organic than synthetic looking. Well, at least my eyes do. The art of making motion picture films does have its flaws. I welcome the flaws. It’s part of the experience.

Star Wars isn’t ruined for me, but it will be a long time before I watch the films on DVD again. I just have to tell myself “Well, this is the way it is” in preparation prior to watching them next time ’round.

Fortunately I still have my old Silver Edition VHS tapes. They’re old, very worn, grainy, and I wouldn’t have it any other way.

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In search of the originals

Tuesday, 28 December 2004

Follow-up to my last post:

I got to thinking..

“If I like the original Star Wars releases better than the new ones.. why don’t I just go grab the VHS editions from eBay?”

So that’s what I’m doing. (grin) I saw a couple of 1995 releases which is just before the first re-release occurred. A few of them were only viewed a handful of times. Some are still in the shrinkwrap(!)

Should be good. My Christmas (or New Year’s at this point) gift to me. (grin)

[--edit--]

Found it. Got the original widescreen THX releases from 1995, the “pre-special” original theater versions. Was fortunate enough to find all three in one eBay listing. Price after shipping: 20 bucks. I think it’s a good deal, especially considering the fact I was only able to find ONE original pre-1997 widescreen trilogy set.. one would think more would be available? Guess not.

I am hoping I will get the version with the original artwork.. but I don’t think I will. I’m reasonably sure that I will get the 3rd release of seven, not including the LaserDisc release.

“Seven releases?”

Yep. Seven. I said in my last post there were three. There are actually five VHS releases (unless I’ve missed one) and two DVD releases:

1. Original release.
2. THX Remastered release
3. THX Remastered widescreen release
4. Special Edition “Gold”
5. Special Edition “Silver” Widescreen
6. DVD (current) release
7. DVD (current) release Widescreen

I think that’s all of them unless I’m mistaken. (grin)

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15 years = nothing?

Wednesday, 29 December 2004

This morning my pop gave me some (possible) bad news. At the place where he works he might be transferred to a different store.

To most people this would not ordinarily be bad news, but it is for my pop, here’s why:

My pop has been working in retail at one company for the last 15 years. I won’t say which company it is - but anyone who knows me knows where my pop works. He has always showed up to werk on time and usually works late. He constantly puts in extra hours. He has volunteered to work (even on planned-ahead days off) when called upon. Working 7-day weeks is not uncommon for him, even today. Heck, he’s even loaned his truck to his boss more times than I can count just to be a nice guy. And yeah, he’s a nice guy. He’s that type of person.

In addition to the above, he has kept his sales record “in the green” on a regular basis. He has been recognized as the leading seller in the store (and sometimes the district) several times. He has a proven track record of sales success and reliability. Everyone likes him and he has no ememies.

He has but one knock against him: age. He’s 69 years old.

This transfer to another store could be the beginning of the end of his career. It will double his commute to werk. Depending on which store he is transferred to, he may have to pay extra taxes every year if transferred out of state. It is without a question of a doubt that a transfer would cause him to lose money.

Throughout the years, the company my pop has worked for all this time has undergone some massive changes. The products have changed, but at the end of the day selling is selling. Either you sell or you don’t - and he has been selling regardless of company changes in the product line.

Evidently a rock-solid employee who shows up early, works late, has proven reliability in sales and repeat customers, not to mention 15+ years with the company means absolutely nothing. In the corporate world an old man is an old man, seen as a burden that can be tossed aside like yesterday’s newspaper.

Ashamedly I can admit that my pop’s age does annoy me sometimes, but, I absolutely would not toss him aside. He is a solid good worker. The customers he serves truly appreciate him. His sales record has been proven time and time again. But I suppose in the modern world that means nothing.

This whole ‘transfer’ thing basically means one thing: They’re trying to make him quit. Of course, they can’t fire him because they have no real reason to other than age (which would be illegal). It’s not like he’s a bad employee. It’s not as if he’s not making his numbers. The reason they want him to leave is because he’s old. It doesn’t matter if he breaks sales records left and right. It doesn’t matter how many hours he puts in. It doesn’t matter how many 7-day weeks he works. It means nothing.

—

On the brighter side, maybe (just maybe) this summer we’ll be able to sell the house which will allow him to pay off his mortgage and also allow him to purchase another home in the clear (as in buy outright). That was the plan last year but it didn’t work out.

Backstory on that: Last year it was decided that the house should be sold so he can pay off the mortgage and then purchase a smaller house (all up front) to live out the rest of his days with no mortgage payment. With the Social Security my pop gets, he would be able to live comfortably if there were no mortgage payment.

So.. I’m keeping my fingers crossed this summer that someone will buy the house for the price asked. If that happens, everything would be a whole lot better.

If anyone has an eye for a ranch-style house on a 7-acre plot with all the privacy you could ever want for $240,000 (which is what it’s worth), let me know. (grin) My contact info is on this page. Prospective buyers should e-mail.

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I love salsa

Wednesday, 29 December 2004

Being that tonight is positively boring, I will just write about stuff in general.

My sister has been staying with the family for the past few days. She left last night. This time around she did not touch too much of my stuff.. but I did notice that there was hair in the shower drain (argh), my shampoo/conditioner bottles both felt really light (argh!) and the shower head was on the wrong setting even after I told her to put it back the way it was when she’s done in there (ARRHGHGHH!!!) Small annoyances, I know this. But they add up. I swear to God the next time she comes over I’m taking all my toiletries out of there and just putting them in a box to be used when needed until she leaves.

I found salsa in the fridge. Yesssss… I love salsa. And there were some bite-size Tostitos left also.. awesome. Killed that salsa with a vengeance! (grin)

Recently I bought the OT (Original Theatrical) version of the Star Wars trilogy on eBay. The seller e-mailed me and asked if I would also like the 3 “Special Edition” VHS’s as well for an extra 8 bucks. Nice of him to ask. I replied and basically said “Nope. Already got ‘em”. (grin) Additionally I also bought an “anamorphic” DVD set of the OT’s. It’s coming from Hawaii so I don’t know how long that will take to get here. Maybe 8 or 9 days. I dunno.

In addition to all this Star Wars geekiness going on I happened to stumble upon the OriginalTrilogy.com web site. There’s some pretty cool stuff in there if you’re into Star Wars at all. My personal favorite on that site is the Curse of the Blue Lightsaber which follows along loosely with the Curse of the Red Shirt (meaning: in nearly every episode [i think] of the original Star Trek, anyone wearing a red shirt was killed off).

My pop’s job is safe for the time being (thank God). I had a phone conversation with him earlier and it seems that everything is okay - for the time being. Seriously though, I was really worried about it. I mean, he’s my pop. Of course I worry about the guy. (grin)

There was a php bug thing in the code which I fixed. All pages now load normally.

At werk today I created a new favicon.ico for this site. Those using Firefox will see this where the web address loads.

At werk, this week is another short week because of New Year’s, so tomorrow is my Friday. Cool. Oh, special happy note (for me): the direct deposit went through without a hitch and is now transferring to my checking account properly. Very cool because I HATE CHECKS, truly I do.

I have been noticing that my credit card company has been taking a very long time to process the checks I send to them. It used to be that within five days after I mailed a check it was processed. Now it takes up to 7 to 10 days to process(?) Weird. Or maybe not weird. I notice that when I send smaller payments of under one hundred bucks it’s processed quickly. Anything over that (more or less) and it takes 7 to 10 days. I mean, it’s not like they have to wait for the check to clear or anything like that. They should know by now that my checks are good..? I dunno.

Such is life.

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GMail spam filters failing

Thursday, 30 December 2004

I have a GMail (Google Mail) account that I use as a secondary e-mail address. Up until now it’s been very good blocking spam. Not too much stuff has come through. But inevitably even the best spam filters fail. Such is the case with GMail. I’ve been receiving a ton of it. Fortunately it’s my secondary account so no big deal.

My primary e-mail has SpamAssassin installed on the server it comes from. Absolutely brilliant product. I have nothing but good things to say about it. I sort of wish GMail would use SpamAssassin on their mail servers. I won’t say it would stop spam cold, but most of the spam I’m getting on the GMail account now would be stopped by it.

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Font update

Thursday, 30 December 2004

Decided to change the font on the blog. Much easier to read now. I’m using computers that have higher resolutions these days and the font size bump is much easier on the eyes. (grin)

For Windows users, the font being used here is called Trebuchet MS. It comes built-in with Windows XP (and Windows 2000 I think). If you’re using Windows 95, 98 or ME you may not have the font. It is a free download available here.

Note: The font is NOT REQUIRED.. but for those who want to see the site “in my vision” so-to-speak (heh) you can download and install the font. (grin)

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Home vs. Apartment prices

Thursday, 30 December 2004

I’ve been doing some future-planning today because it’s a slow day here at werk. As I was pricing things out I came across a startling discovery… well.. startling to me at least. The overall monthly cost for a home is actually less than an apartment outfitted with similar amenities in many instances.

Originally I had my crosshairs on getting an apartment this summer. My opinion of that has changed after today. Now I’m trying to decide whether it would be better to have an apartment or an actual house - and it’s leaning towards house.

Take two different living environments:

1. A 2-bedroom apartment with a washer/dryer hookup in the unit (not that crappy “community” laundry room).

2. A 3-bedroom house also with a washer/dryer hookup in the basement.

Which one do you think would be more expensive? Believe it or not, the apartment has the higher monthly payment, by as much as 10% to 15%.

Before I go any further - these are my personal calculations and shouldn’t be taken as gospel. Everyone’s price for a mortgage is different depending on your down payment and credit and so on.

Granted, you’re stuck with a mortgage when you get a house. But let’s say that down the road you lose your job and you have to collect unemployment (in this day and age you have to expect things like that to happen). It’s a lot easier to pay the smaller mortgage payment compared to a higher lease payment. In my experience you should never take your job as a “given”. You should always have some kind of plan just in case things go wrong for whatever reason. A lesser monthly payment for where you live is always better when bad fiscal times happen - no doubt about that.

While doing my calculations, I found that it would actually be easier for me to afford a mortgage payment (compared to a lease payment) even if I did lose my job. This above all else was the proverbial kick in the pants. I always thought apartments were cheaper 100% of the time. Not so. I mean, yeah, if you go with a cheap-o place with the walls falling apart an apartment is less than a house. But no one wants that, obviously.

I definitely have some more reading to do on the subject. I will be scanning many real estate web sites, newspapers and so on. Looks like a home, as in a real home, isn’t as far out of reach as I once thought.

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My first 16×16 icon attempts

Friday, 31 December 2004

If you look to the right there are now new little itty-bitty icons there. This is my first attempt at decent looking 16×16 icons. Yes I created them from scratch. I think they came out okay.

I found out quickly that the only way to get 16×16 to look good at all is to zoom in and go pixel by pixel - which is what I did. Granted, they look a little “computery” but that’s the whole point. Icons in my opinion should not just be about looking good but also serve its function well. A “contact” or “e-mail” icon should be an image of an envelope. Design icons should have something to do with art, like pencils, pens and so on. Archival functions should have something to do with storing something.

Speaking of the Blog Archive icon.. it’s supposed to look like a piece of paper coming out of a file drawer. That was really hard to do in 16×16. I think I’ve accomplished that.. but you be the judge. Originally my idea was to draw a treasure chest but that did not come out good at all (grin). The standard file cabinet icon had to do. I drew it out as an opened cabinet with a paper sticking out.

Just for grins I made the icons with transparent backgrounds. This was easy to do since none of the icons have anti-aliasing in them. “Magic Wand’ing” the boundaries for the transparent areas was a snap.

I may make some more lil’ icons here and there to kill some time. Maybe. Depends how bored I get. (grin)

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