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Blog - May 2004 |
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This page stores my blog entries from May 2004. The entries are dated May 4, May 9, May 13, May 18, May 26, and May 28.
New Job Fun Continues: Current Feelings / Interior-Cubicle Decorator / Name That Tune / Whole Earth Festival this Weekend / A Warning on Shrinking Socks Tuesday, May 4, 2004 My current job is going very well. It feels funny to hold a permanent position, yet I feel a great sense of comfort knowing that I'll have this position every day. No more projects or uncertainty as to when I'll work. Benefits will relieve some burden on my finances and allow me to do things I couldn't do before. The last time I had my eyes checked was in 1996. Though I can see fine with or without my glasses, I do have a sense that my vision has changed significantly over the years. I will enjoy my time there and enjoy the thoughts towards living on my own and working towards acquiring that which I want and need. ***** Cubicles seem to present a bit of a difficulty to decorate. I currently have my own cubicle that I need to decorate somehow. Women tend to be more oriented towards decorating rooms and such, so most things along those lines tend to be aligned to their tastes. Not all of it, of course. I have very little in my cubicle, and I'm struggling to figure out other possibilities. No, I do not have a "Cubicle, Sweet Cubicle" sign, but I do have St. Dogbert, the patron saint of technology to protect my technology and drive out the daemons of stupidity. If anyone out there wants an interesting job, become an interior-cubicle designer. You can spend your time designing great, comfortable environments and collections of things to decorate people's cubicles. Naturally, a person can use Feng Shui to maximize one's energy by arranging the chair, computer, and file cabinet to create cubicle harmony. Sure, it doesn't sound like a great career move. But, if you love to decorate and have people who need help, an interior-cubicle decorator would be a god-send. One wouldn't have to charge much per person at all. If you charged about $20 plus expenses, one could easily make a good amount of money on the side. ***** On too many occasions, I'll hear music emanating from some source, only to hear fractions of the piece. Thankfully, I've heard enough stuff that, many times, I can hear little bits and figure out the song from it. It's pretty simple. When I hear a part of a song, I quickly analyze it to figure out what song or band it could be. I hear patterns in the music that allow me to recognize songs when I can't hear it clearly. I get an impression of a song in my mind and listen to see if it matches what I remember. From there, I'll try to determine at what point in the song it might be. I'll hum or sing the song quietly to myself to see if it matches what little else I can hear. If what I hear matches certain landmarks I remember, then I know that the song I'm thinking about is the song to which someone is listening. Many times, I'm right, though I simply cannot remember every song recorded. It feels similar to that old game show "Name That Tune." In that game, contestants would claim to be able to determine a song by hearing only so many notes. They would bid down until one of them would tell the other to name the tune. The key was to work the number of notes down far enough to be able to determine it without limiting it too much. I guess, in a sense, I play this game all the time with myself. I listen to a few notes from afar and try to figure the song out. Sometimes I do it when I listen to the radio. I'll flip around stations and try to name a song from just a couple of seconds of playtime. Over time, some songs become very easy to recognize with only a few notes. Others take more time depending on things. One pair of songs that created a challenge for me was to be able to tell the difference between Metallica's "For Whom the Bell Tolls" and AC/DC's "Hell's Bells." Both start with the sound of a huge metal bell (think in terms of the Liberty Bell as to type of bell) bonging. In Metallica's song, the bell tolls twice before the guitars start up. In AC/DC's song, it takes three to five bongs. Also, the bells in both songs have different tones. I think the one in Metallica's song has a deeper tone, but I don't remember at the moment. The only thing that trips me up is when I can't recall a band name. That can happen with me for any word or term, but it happens. I'll just continue to listen to music, enjoy it for what it is, and expand my knowledge and fun as I see fit. ***** The Whole Earth Festival at UC Davis is this coming weekend. They always hold it on Mother's Day weekend, as per tradition. Initially, it seemed weird that they never held it near Earth Day, but Mother's Day weekend seems more appropriate. With the whole New Age feel, it feels like a celebration of the Earth Mother. On what other weekend would it be more appropriate than on Mother's Day weekend? Pam and I will go together this year. Last year, we didn't really know each other and, hence, didn't go together. I still have my plaster necklaces from last year. The two plaster medallions say "Peace" in different languages: one in Spanish and one in Gaelic. I will have to wear these when we go this weekend. ***** As a final note this evening, beware when washing dress socks. I recently bought a pair from a big & tall-type place, only to see them shrink beyond use. I washed and dried them as per instructions, but they shrunk immensely. Part of me hopes they will just refund my money, but I bet I'll have to exchange them for something else. I'll find out Thursday.
Shoe Shopping - A Success! / Whole Earth Festival with Pam / Redwood Grove at UCD: Class 2000 Gift Showing Progress / Mackeson's Triple Stout is Back! Sunday, May 9, 2004 I certainly had a great weekend. At no point did I really have much idle time, yet I enjoyed what I did. Saturday posed a big challenge: find shoes for work. I have to wear business casual at work, and tennis shoes, naturally, will not suffice. The problem I have is a rather large foot to try to find shoes to fit. The 14-EEEE New Balance shoes fit wonderfully, but I know that dress-ish shoes fit differently. Pam decided to accompany me on this quest, which seemed to have the "Mission: Impossible" theme song playing as we traveled around town. In the previous weekend, I stopped at three places to find shoes, failing to find anything in all three places. The first stop was a Red Wing Shoes store. I had been to their store before, but I never shopped there for these type of shoes. I tried on a couple of pairs, but neither of them fit. I have a strict rule that if a pair of shoes feel uncomfortable for any reason, I won't buy them. I make no exceptions. The salesman tried to tell me that if he brought 18 other people in to try on this particular pair of shoes, they would fit. That statement topped my annoyance with the experience, and I soon left. A visit to a small shoe shop not too far away from there yielded nothing at all. Minorly frustrated, we left for home to regroup and consider other options. Carefully, I considered a place I hadn't been to before. I remembered going to this place when I was a kid, watching my mom and grandmother shop around. Besides the size-37 shoe they have displayed in the back behind the counter, I remembered the "Pimp shoes" they had for sale. These dress shoes came in leopard prints and other animal patterns with colored leather to "match." I decided to give them a shot, and I didn't come away disappointed. The salesman helped out immensely, answering questions I had as I took my time to see if a particular shoe fit well. Surprisingly, I walked away with a pair of SAS shoes to the tune of size 13M. I even got a pair of wool socks to try out, since they felt comfortable and cooler than the cotton ones I wore before. I'll try these shoes out this week, and, assuming they fit well enough, I'll get a black pair to go with these brown shoes. It just felt weird to find myself wearing a 13M shoe, given that I've had to fit myself into very wide shoes for so long. It just shows how differently pairs of shoes can fit between brands. ***** After shoe shopping, I took Pam to her very first Whole Earth Festival at UC Davis. This written-in-cement plan every year comes with great excitement on my part. Granted, my excitement has never expressed itself as outwardly as it did on my first visit back in 1995, I still find great energy when attending. My first horror appeared with the cost to park: $6. It feels like it goes up every year after staying stable for so long. It seems appropriate to make it expensive to park, given the theme of the celebration, but I know that the parking costs always stay the same for whatever UCD charges. At least we carpooled, which should at least please some of the attendees. The vendors tend to be the same year after year. I noticed a few new ones, including a woman selling miniature kites, some places selling various drawings, and a booth with assorted books and t-shirts. The theme of the last booth seemed to be around counter-culture thinking, including having a tri-fold handout describing what an "anarchist" truly is and how you might be one without knowing it. They sold t-shirts, including one that I would have loved to own. It had a picture of George W. Bush on it with "International Terrorist" written around it. Last year, I had enough money to buy a pair of large pillar candles from my favorite candle vendors, Canterbury Candles. They attended every year I had been to the Whole Earth Festival, but they were bizarrely missing. This year, they made their return. I did buy one pillar candle: a large mottled-blue pillar that sits at about 12.5" high and tapers slightly. The base has a 3" diameter, while the top has a 2" diameter. It joins the other candles I bought in years past. I have yet to burn either of them, since they look too cool and are too decorative to burn. Maybe next year I'll buy one solely for burning. Pam and I browsed around the various booths. We stopped early for some food, with Pam getting an eggplant and pesto sandwich and, for myself, some garlic fries. The drum circle provided entertainment while we munched these down. We sat and enjoyed something to drink before bouncing around the remaining booths down the middle of the quad. A couple of things surprised me on the independent music realm. The main, annual drum circle manifested itself near Hart Hall, as it did in the previous couple of years. It seemed a little sparse, but more people joined in a little later in the day. At one point, the circle stopped drumming completely, which is something I had never seen them do. Generally, a non-stop fount of drumming comes from the drum circle. Over on the quad itself, a group of people played guitars and sang. Some people danced with them, though fewer people paid prolonged attention to this cool group. I know they sang of Krishna, but I do not know to whom they belong (if anyone in particular). Pam bought a nice blue-and-green spoon rest from one of the pottery booths. That will look nice on her turquoise stove. She felt a little out of place in some respects, though the thinking suits how she thinks in some respects. Getting used to seeing semi-scantily-clad women and not-clad-at-all children can seem a little distracting and conflict with one's morals. She said she felt old. I guess I did as well when I saw the preppie teens hanging around. I didn't really feel old, but I did feel a bit of disdain in seeing those types there. They seem so fake and out of place. Some of the usual elements showed up again this year. The guy who makes candlesticks out of machine gears had his booth. Although it's a very cool way to recycle old machinery, I doubt I could seriously use something like that. Maybe I'll take a better look next time. The various clothing places and the place that sells the "one-handed salad server" made repeat appearances. The guy who makes the little clay necklace medallions that say "peace" in different languages had a place there as well. Vegetable-oil-combusting vehicles and various bicycle vehicles also populated parts of the realm. I didn't get to bounce around as much as I did last year, but we'll see about extending my stay next year to see the acts. Pam and I both enjoyed the festivities, though. I loved that Canterbury Candles made a grand return, though I still found it disappointed with the small number of candle places (two, with Canterbury being, by far, the best) and almost no incense dealers. The Festival used to have three or four candle places and many incense dealers. Now, just the two candle places and a couple who sell scented oils. I will certainly have to e-mail the Whole Earth Festival organizers to make my voice known that they need to make sure that Canterbury makes it back each year. One more year has passed, and another great time at the Whole Earth Festival. ***** Before getting to the Whole Earth Festival, Pam and I walked through the Redwood section of the Arboretum. My graduating class of 2000 made our Senior Class Gift towards fixing up this area. I hadn't seen what improvements they made until yesterday. All of the off-path areas were cleaned up and planted with more appropriate undergrowth. The main path looked clean and sturdy, and I hope they fixed the drainage problems. During the rainy season, water would sit in the main path and create large muddy spots, a major sore for pedestrians and bicyclists alike. A side path runs between the main path and the road, giving pedestrians a closer look at some of the flora. New benches and picnic tables grace the grounds, with the future site of a memorial (or something) already cemented out. I do not remember the list of things they still plan to do, but I certainly love the progress obtained over the past four years. ***** A couple of years ago, I had a beer called Mackeson's Triple Stout. One couldn't miss it on the shelves, with
the black carton and the "XXX" emblazoned in red across the side. I rather liked that beer, but it suddenly
disappeared from the shelves of Trader Joe's and everyone else who had it. After my first bottle of Mackeson's, I know I am not dissapointed. It's just as good as I remember. It isn't as thick or as bitter as Guinness, but it has the color and opacity. No bitter aftertaste awaits you. Instead, nearly no aftertaste leaves you wanting more. Too many times I've looked longingly into an empty mug, wanting more. So, certainly, if you happen to be in a place that stocks this great stout, snag a six pack. If you like dark beers, you will not be disappointed.
Shopping Haul: My Success at a Garage Sale and Book Sale / Lingual Slip-Ups / "Wait ... Weren't the Lyrics on that Page Incorrect In The Exact Same Way?!?" / Notes on Future Entries Thursday, May 13, 2004 I've made some killer buys from sales lately. A couple of weeks ago, I hopped over to a local garage/estate sale. The people had many different things and were continually putting new things out. My haul included:
From what I can tell, the copy of "Hamlet" could go for about $7. Those Pyrex bowls, on the other hand, might sell for around $10 per bowl. I'm missing one from the set (the medium red bowl), but the ones I have are in great condition. My parents have a similar set but are missing the medium green bowl that I have. Their set is not as old as mine. Eventually, I'll have to find a good-quality red bowl to complete the set. The McKinley Library is hosting a huge book sale for the Friends of the Sacramento Public Library. Pam grew very excited when she heard of its appearance, which started Tuesday (Monday for people who wanted to pay to preview the collection). We got over there last night and headed straight for the rare and exceptional book room. From that room I hauled away:
The Sherlock Holmes books made me very happy. My parents have a set as well, and I have yet to read everything Sherlock Holmes. I rather lucked out on the set, since finding a complete set together could be hard. Also, I think these books would normally go for much more. ***** My current position is going well. It's funny because there are so many similarities to what I had done before. Even recently, when telling Pam about things concerning my day, I used terminology from our old job. It's funny how we can revert to an old set of terms for something that is similar but not really the same. ***** The Internet truly is a sad and pathetic place. Lyrics is one realm where this is too self-evident. This is part of the reason why I sometimes try to determine the lyrics to a song myself. That's why the lyrics to Christian Death's "Deathwish" appear on my site. I tried to find complete lyrics for it, but nowhere did I find correct lyrics. Many times I'll just find fragments or find that segments of lyrics are missing. I know, on some occasions, figuring out the actual lyrics are near impossible. Some time ago, I thought I'd try to figure out the lyrics of one of my favorite Operation Ivy songs: "Face That Screams." I even found out that a band covered that exact song, only to find the music file equally as muddy and unclear. Tidbits online seemed odd and different from what I heard. When I tried to decipher the lyrics, I couldn't really make some sections out. On that occasion, I can see where incorrect lyrics or missing sections would make sense. With "Deathwish", I had to use two different versions -- one by Christian Death and one by Solitude Aeturnus -- to figure out the full lyrics. Some other songs, like Sonny & Cher's "Beat Goes On", have very clear vocals that would make accurate transcriptions a breeze. There is no excuse for error-ridden transcriptions out there for songs like this. ***** My weekend should start tomorrow evening with the beginning of my celebration with Pam of our first year together. I'll detail what we did sometime after the fact. Other elements in the pipeline for my blog include a huge warning to anyone considering SureWest. The details of our horrible experience shall be shed in the near-ish future.
Pam and I: One Year / More Cool Books from THE Sale / 55? You Can Drive 85 With My Idea Tuesday, May 18, 2004
Our celebration started Friday night with some dessert together. We watched some episodes of M*A*S*H and left it as an easy night. On Saturday, we opened the presents from each other. I bought her a creme brulee torch with some ramekins, and she got me a DVD of "Shrek" and a book club paperback edition of Dan Brown's "The Da Vinci Code." We then hopped off to some garage sales. Nothing really perked our interest at any of the ones we visited. Breakfast consisted of eggs, bacon, and grits. We had to go shopping after the garage sales in order to have the bacon, but we got the rest of the stuff we needed that night at the same time. A friend of mine at work held a party at a park in Rocklin, so Pam and I hopped off and attended that for about an hour. From there, we headed back home and got the barbecue and creme brulee going. Dinner consisted of a top sirloin steak, baked potatoes, mushrooms, and a salad we got free from Trader Joe's. The salad had spinach, pecans, dried cranberries, blue cheese, and some raspberry vinaigrette. We bought the last bottle of 2001 Black Opal Shiraz that Trader Joe's had on the shelves, and that had a rather nice flavor. The barbecued steak tasted wonderful with the first use of Pam's new Weber grill. Charcoal is the only way to barbecue! We collapsed the rest of the evening, watching my "Shrek" DVD. I couldn't have asked for anything more with such a celebration. We'll see how this next year goes, and we'll eventually have to start planning on how we'll top this. ***** My shopping at the McKinley Library book sale continued through to the end of the sale this past Sunday. I splurged and bought Pam the Yale Shakespeare book from 1993, originally published by Barnes and Noble. The huge tome holds all of Shakespeare's works, with all of the plays arranged by type (Tragedies, Comedies, and Histories), all of the sonnets and poems, and all sorts of notes explaining the language used and the references Shakespeare made in the plays. I gave this to Pam Friday night, just before our anniversary celebration began. I found one other book on Sunday. The Special Collection room had their books for 1/2 off on that last day of the sale, and I bought "Hercule Poirot's Casebook" by Agatha Christie. It contains all 50 of the short stories in which Poirot appears. It doesn't contain the novels, but I can always get those later. The only book I didn't get (and wished I did) was a hardback, slipcased edition of, I think, Dante's Divine Comedy. I don't think they wanted too much for it ($10 or so), but I was set on not spending too much. Oh well. I know I'll find more treasures as time goes on. They had a legal bookcase (one with the glass doors that can slide back above the books) full of extra-special books. It included a first-edition of Tom Clancy's "The Hunt for Red October" and a book called "Japanese Arms and Armor." I don't know what they wanted for the former, but the latter had a price tag of $60. Apparently the Friends of the Sacramento Public Library hold these sales annually and at different locations. Another one should be coming to Fair Oaks in a couple of weeks or so. When it comes to the McKinley Library again, I shall be armed with more moola and great anticipation. ***** People drive faster on the freeways than they used to a few years ago. I remember a time when I could go a smidge over the speed limit and easily pass people up. Nowadays, I nearly get run off the road if I try such a thing. Recently, the California Highway Patrol held Zero-Tolerance days, pulling over people going just one mile over the speed limit. Somehow, that seemed a little extreme as well, since different people have different abilities when it comes to driving. While driving home, the thought came to me: "Why not have a test that people could take to earn the right to drive at higher speeds?" The way I see it is like the following. DMV would pick the eligible candidates from their database based on at least 10 years of clean driving. Anyone with violations and tickets would be disqualified due to not showing enough maturity and responsibility on the road. The eligible and interested candidates would take a series of tests and evaluations to determine their qualifications for safely driving at higher speeds. Once approved, the applicant would pay an added fee onto their yearly vehicle license fee and gain a set of license plates that would display their "speed rating." I'm not sure how this rating would be displayed, though one thought would be for the digits to be on either side of the state name. For example, someone rated at being able to go 80 MPH would have "8 California 0" across the top of the plate. Wherever it would be, it would have to be visible enough for the police to see. Or, maybe the plate will have a scannable chip that a policeman could scan with some sort of infrared beam. DMV would need a full set of tests to ensure people's safety. My initial thoughts ran along the idea of a computer simulation that people would have to use. Somehow, it would have to judge a person's reaction time and ability to make quick judgements based on possible real-life occurrences. This could provide one accurate element, though people who play video games might have an advantage over those who don't. It's possible they might not if those people think of it too much like a computer game (cf. Carmageddon). Undoubtedly DMV would have a written test. I guess that would have to be armed with questions concerning driving at high speeds and things like stopping distance. I don't know if there would be a large enough bank of questions that one could create to make this worthwhile. One's ability behind the wheel would be most important to test. The only other thing I could think of would be to have people take test drives on a planned course. Certain obstacles (stationary and moving) would provide the challenges. One would have to complete three passes through it to gain credit. These tests would have to be re-taken either annually or biannually, depending on one's age. This assumes that one's reflexes "deteriorate" as one gets older. On the off years where one isn't tested, one's driving records would be checked. If too many problems pop up, then the license could be revoked or amended. I don't have this thought out completely just yet, nor do I expect to have it in too much detail.
Reading List Progress: My Status / Q*Bert had it right - My Continuing Computer Woes / Impressions of The Da Vinci Code / Memorial Day Weekend Plans Wednesday, May 26, 2004 As I'm heading towards the 5/12-of-a-year mark, I thought I'd review my reading goals to see how I'm coming along with them for the year. Back in January, I had a list of books I wanted to read. As to my progress, I finished reading Dune and Dagon, and Other Macabre Tales by H.P. Lovecraft. Since my initial plans, I have had some acquisitions that shake up the order and number of books. So, the current view and order of desired readings is:
Frankly, after the Agatha Christie book, the order is up in the air. I don't know what my desires will be by that time. I have many other books that might catch my interest by then. ***** My computer woes continue. I had a different local computer place take a look at it, and after having it for five days (3.5 of which was when they were open; I dropped it off mid-day on Saturday), it still isn't working correctly. They removed some spyware and reinstalled Norton Systemworks. In theory, they said it was fixed and working fine. On the first boot-up at home, it worked beautifully. However, once I re-booted it, all the old issues came back. Tomorrow (Thursday), it's going back. I'm a little irritated, since I did mention the fact that Symantec told me it was probably an issue with the drivers in Windows. That could certainly be the case, since I know this system has some features that I did not have before on the old system. It's completely possible that one set of drivers could be having fun with Norton in a rather bad way. We'll see what happens from here. Fortunately, their work is under warranty, so it shouldn't cost me any more than I already spent. ***** As mentioned before, I started reading The Da Vinci Code a few days ago. So far, I'm enjoying it. The author separated the 454-page book into over a hundred chapters with each chapter representing a short scene in the progression of the story. Initially, these short chapters seemed to make things a bit choppy, but they work well to keep the multiple storylines going. We'll see how the story itself pans out. In the past, I've had great story-telling get ruined by a horribly bland cause (c.f. Salem's Lot by Stephen King). I have no expectations with this book, so I'm sure I won't be disappointed. Pam bought herself a copy of this as well, and we're reading it together. She reads much faster than I, so we made a deal. I'll read what I can during the day, and when I talk to her that night, I'll let her know how far I got. From there, she'll read up to where I finished. This keeps her from saying too much about what's going on and preventing her from ruining my enjoyment of the book. Thankfully, these ideas of preventing the ruination of my enjoyment was her idea and thoughts. Initially, the writing didn't impress Pam. She's warming up to it the further into the book she gets. I think the writing is ok. The imagery might be a little simple, but I think Dan Brown uses it effectively to present an easy path towards envisioning how a character sees things in the story. Sure, Brown could have taken more time to describe the scene with more colorful verbiage, but that could also weigh down the story, dragging its pace. I recognized some of the mathematics present in the story rather easily. It helped that the Acknowledgements page mentioned one of the mathematical bits in it. I shall report more the futher into the book I get. ***** Memorial Day weekend springs upon us, and I do not have too many hard plans. In the spirit of my general love of making lists, my general plans include:
Other minor things cover some of the rest of the time, including shopping for dessert and wine. Overall, I just hope to solve my shoe and computer issues so they'll stop hanging over me like some sort of huge turkey vulture.
SureWest is Outta There!: a short Horror story on our experiences / Computer Definitely Going Back / Thought on Popular Search Term for My Site / The Da Vinci Code Progress / Those Were The Days of Our Lives - The Changes and What They Can Bring: a short reflection Friday, May 28, 2004 SureWest is history for our family. After almost two months, we finally got fed up with them and left. Comcast came quickly to reconnect us, and we finally got SBC back for the phone. I intend this piece to be brief and a general warning to the populace. The lovely issues we had with SureWest were:
As I figured, my Internet connections are back up to 48Kbps, which is where it was when we were last with SBC before this fiasco with SureWest. Granted, a lot of this stuff wouldn't be all that bad. Apparently people in the non-expanded realms (e.g. Roseville) have had no problems at all. That realm used to be ruled by Roseville Telephone, who, apparently, were bought out by a group who eventually became SureWest. But, if you're not in that area, I certainly would not recommend anything that they offer. ***** I took a little time to look at things a bit more on my computer. Right now, it's exhibiting the same symptoms it showed before I took it in. On top of that, the LiveUpdate issue I had fixed is back again. They reinstalled Norton Systemworks, so that, naturally, removed the work I did to reinstall LiveUpdate to a more recent version. The older version, for some reason, caused some sort of Invalid Page Fault after updating something from Symantec's site. I'm definitely going to take it back tomorrow. Last time, I let them know that Symantec said it's probably a Windows driver conflict, and I don't believe the computer shop did anything about that. We'll see what happens when I take it back. ***** One term that seems to be garnering a lot of attention to my site is "Caplgin.ax", the name of a file that seemed to come up missing on my computer. The unusual nature of this is that very few sites come up when searching for this term, yet it seems that many people are concerned about this file. I'm surprised that nobody has posted something somewhere that explains what the file is or what it does. ***** I read the first 21 Chapters of The Da Vinci Code. So far, it's pretty good. The fast pace helps the fact that the detail seems a bit lacking. I hope Dan Brown explains some of the lingering details somewhere in the latter pages of the book. ***** Change acts in such odd manners. At a time when we think we couldn't be happier, something happens to shake us from our comfort zone, revealing that the happiness we felt was a mere depression compared to the joy we would soon experience. Within the past eight months, I have seen three of my friends see unemployment. That includes me, and it includes a friend who will lose his job in a month or so. For one person, the entity ceased to exist, and for the other, the entity decided to axe the whole department. In using my best Marvin the Martian voice: "Isn't that lovely?" I know, for me, taking the unemployment route led me to a much better alternative than sinking towards being a life-long temporary worker. The ease of settling into a comfortable routine hampered my ability and energy to find "a real job." Granted, I did work full-time, but the exhaustion from working all day at that position left me no energy at night. Yet, now that I looked carefully, I found a realm that, at the moment, feels right up my alley. Another friend of mine is also having computer issues. His poor iBook-ish thing apparently died a horrible death. It seems that his goal will be to reinstall everything and not try to lose too much. My own struggles have me looking towards putting together a second computer; the current one would be used for software incompatible with WinXP (or Longhorn, if it takes me that long to save up the money for another computer). Eventually, hardware drivers and software will no longer be written for Win98SE. I have that problem right now with my ATi Radeon 9600 Pro video card. Apparently, Microsoft will no longer give WHQL certification for drivers for Win98SE, so ATi won't be releasing any more drivers for it for their cards. Even the ones I'm using now were meant for WinME. Thankfully, the OS versions are nearly the same, so the drivers work well. Even in relationships such changes work out. I had some bad friendships and relationships in the past, but now I find myself with a wonderful woman in Pam. Never, in the past, would I have envisioned myself in this position and having such a great time. A lot of this feels like such a huge departure from my "it hasn't happened yet, so it probably never will" attitude that weighed me down in the past. Frankly, I'm happy about that, since I'm having a lot more fun without it. |
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