In addition to picking up an HD DVD player on Wednesday – specifically the HD-A30 – I also decided to bite the bullet and finally pick up the Absolute New Frontier at the comic shop. I’d been wanting it for a while and decided that it was as good a time as any to get it over with and buy the thing. The quick flip-through that I gave it confirms that it looks really good: sharp, crisp colors, nice paper stock, and some excellent extras such as character designs and various other goodies.
On Tuesday, shortly after the Verizon tech who’d gotten my Internet working again had left, I noticed that it wasn’t quite as zippy as it been during the brief time that it had worked on Monday. Various speed tests confirmed that I was “only” getting 5 Mbps down. Now, this is a respectable speed, and is five times better than what I was getting from DirecPath, but it’s not the 15 Mbps that I’m paying for.
So I called Verizon once again and was greeted by their automated phone system which ran some tests and concluded that I needed to talk to an actual person. However, rather than transferring me to an actual person, it told me that one would call me within six hours and then hung up on me.
No one ever did call me until nearly 7 PM the next day, but the person who did call had good news, as he had found the problem – I’d been set to the default speed of 5 Mbps – and corrected it.
So now I have the extreme speeds again, and I was able to set up my wireless network without screwing anything up.
David, my Realtor, stopped by on Tuesday to give me a housewarming gift (a nice set of dishes) and to check the place out. He said that while it’s clear that I’m not finished with organizing and decorating the place it’s already nicer than it was when the former owner was living in it.
Certainly it’s considerably less cluttered, and turning the dining room back into a dining room frees up a lot of room in the kitchen, which, while decently-sized, isn’t really big enough to be an eat-in kitchen.
So far it’s been a very slow day at work, as per usual, and more boring than usual, as I didn’t bring my laptop in, so I don’t have my collection of mp3s to listen to, or the ability to do any online tutorials.
I didn’t want to bring in the laptop as now that we’re in the new NOC there seems to be a stricter adherence to the rules, and bringing in non-business laptops has always been against the rules, though most managers have been willing to overlook it on Saturdays.
Now? I’m not so sure, as we aren’t even allowed unfettered access to our workstations – they’re locked inside cabinets.
We have speakers, but they don’t have headphone jacks, so it’s difficult to listen to music unobtrusively.
On the plus side, it’s not as ice cold in here as it was in the old NOC, though the warmth seems to lead me to drink a lot more water. It seems like I’m constantly refilling my mug, much more frequently that I did in the old NOC, and I already drank a lot of water there.
Maybe it’s not the warmth, though. It could be that the water here is better. After all, I’m getting it from an actual water cooler, not the filtered water dispenser.
Either way, all that water makes the fact that there is only one set of bathrooms which are closed for cleaning for over an hour on weekdays that much more troublesome.
Saturday, October 13, 2007
Friday, October 12, 2007
In revenge, we can receive emails from him.
On Wednesday my ability to restrain myself was put to the ultimate test, a test that I passed by not screaming “Son of a bitch!” at the top of my lungs in Best Buy after walking in and seeing my TV on display, on sale for almost $200 less than what I paid for it.
As soon as I spotted the display I told myself not to look at the price because I knew it would be bad – though not that bad – but I was unable to avoid the temptation.
Despite this, by the time I left I did so with an HD DVD player in hand.
If you’d asked me a couple of months ago, I would have told you that Blu Ray was going to come out on top in the HD format wars, but things have changed since then, and now it looks like HD DVD has the edge.
Still, somewhere along the line I’m going to buy a nice new Media Center PC to hook up to my TV, and I’ll be getting one that has a Blu Ray burner, thus giving me access to both formats.
I was on the fence about buying the HD DVD player. Shortly after I moved into the new place I got one of those “welcome to the neighborhood” packets from the post office, along with the confirmation that my change of address had been accepted. In the packet was a coupon for 10% off at Circuit City.
So it was my intention to use that and buy an HD DVD player from Circuit City. Of course, well after I left home and was on my way to Circuit City I realized that I’d forgotten to bring the coupon.
With the trip to Circuit City cancelled, I had time to kill (I was going to be meeting Scott at the comic shop and didn’t want to go home and then head back out again), so it was for that purpose that I actually stopped at Best Buy.
The reason I decided to buy the HD DVD player at Best Buy was that it had a nice feature set, was a known brand (Toshiba), there only appeared to be one left, and it included two HD DVD movies in the box, one of which was 300.
(The other was the Bourne Identity, which, yeah, okay, I can stand to have.)
Unbeknownst to me at the time, but beknownst to me after I paid for it, it also came with a rebate for five free HD DVDs. I had a list to choose from, and most of them were decent, for the most part. Nothing really great, but, especially given that they’re free, nothing to really complain about either.
I have no idea which ones I chose; Wednesday was far too long ago for me to remember. I know I picked Swordfish over Full Metal Jacket, even though Full Metal Jacket is vastly superior as a movie (Well, the first half is. The second half not so much.), simply because Swordfish has something that Kubrick’s movie does not: Halle Berry’s boobs in high definition.
That trumps Vincent D’Onofrio’s brains splattered on the wall any day.
Oh, right, spoiler alert. In Full Metal Jacket Vincent D’Onofrio’s character blows his brains out.
In any case, it’s taken all day to write this, so I suppose I should post it and get it over with.
Oh, and the post title comes from a wonderfully bizarre translation from French (I guess) to English in a spam e-mail I received that was going on about some nonsense about not being able to send e-mails to one of our customers.
As soon as I spotted the display I told myself not to look at the price because I knew it would be bad – though not that bad – but I was unable to avoid the temptation.
Despite this, by the time I left I did so with an HD DVD player in hand.
If you’d asked me a couple of months ago, I would have told you that Blu Ray was going to come out on top in the HD format wars, but things have changed since then, and now it looks like HD DVD has the edge.
Still, somewhere along the line I’m going to buy a nice new Media Center PC to hook up to my TV, and I’ll be getting one that has a Blu Ray burner, thus giving me access to both formats.
I was on the fence about buying the HD DVD player. Shortly after I moved into the new place I got one of those “welcome to the neighborhood” packets from the post office, along with the confirmation that my change of address had been accepted. In the packet was a coupon for 10% off at Circuit City.
So it was my intention to use that and buy an HD DVD player from Circuit City. Of course, well after I left home and was on my way to Circuit City I realized that I’d forgotten to bring the coupon.
With the trip to Circuit City cancelled, I had time to kill (I was going to be meeting Scott at the comic shop and didn’t want to go home and then head back out again), so it was for that purpose that I actually stopped at Best Buy.
The reason I decided to buy the HD DVD player at Best Buy was that it had a nice feature set, was a known brand (Toshiba), there only appeared to be one left, and it included two HD DVD movies in the box, one of which was 300.
(The other was the Bourne Identity, which, yeah, okay, I can stand to have.)
Unbeknownst to me at the time, but beknownst to me after I paid for it, it also came with a rebate for five free HD DVDs. I had a list to choose from, and most of them were decent, for the most part. Nothing really great, but, especially given that they’re free, nothing to really complain about either.
I have no idea which ones I chose; Wednesday was far too long ago for me to remember. I know I picked Swordfish over Full Metal Jacket, even though Full Metal Jacket is vastly superior as a movie (Well, the first half is. The second half not so much.), simply because Swordfish has something that Kubrick’s movie does not: Halle Berry’s boobs in high definition.
That trumps Vincent D’Onofrio’s brains splattered on the wall any day.
Oh, right, spoiler alert. In Full Metal Jacket Vincent D’Onofrio’s character blows his brains out.
In any case, it’s taken all day to write this, so I suppose I should post it and get it over with.
Oh, and the post title comes from a wonderfully bizarre translation from French (I guess) to English in a spam e-mail I received that was going on about some nonsense about not being able to send e-mails to one of our customers.
Thursday, October 11, 2007
"Bereft" Pretty Well Sums Up The Feeling
On his blog, Neil Gaiman linked to an interview with Alan Moore, which I am linking to right here.
I found that the introduction to the interview - in particular the last few sentences - really resonated with me:
I first became an Alan Moore fan in Covent Garden on a Saturday afternoon in 1987, when I bought a copy of Watchmen, his graphic novel about ageing superheroes and nuclear apocalypse. I had always been fascinated by comics but it had taken me several weeks to make up my mind to buy Watchmen; for someone on a publisher's assistant's salary it was some quite unheard-of sum of money. I began reading on the Tube home. I read all weekend and by Monday morning I still had a couple of chapters to go. For the book itself, I refer you to pretty much any review – intelligent, multi-layered, extraordinary, etc – but what I remember 20 years later is not so much what I thought of it, as its effect on me. That Monday at work I felt almost physically sick: sick from not being able to read Watchmen. The primary colours of Dave Gibbons's art danced in my head – everything else seemed grey and unreal. No other book ever took hold of me like that. That evening I went home and finished it. Then I was no longer sick. Only bereft.
I had actually been a fan of Alan Moore for some years prior to reading Watchmen, but as amazed as I had been by all of his previous work, nothing could have prepared me for the effect Watchmen would have on me.
And what makes him such a remarkable talent is that he can still manage to take you by surprise.
I found that the introduction to the interview - in particular the last few sentences - really resonated with me:
I first became an Alan Moore fan in Covent Garden on a Saturday afternoon in 1987, when I bought a copy of Watchmen, his graphic novel about ageing superheroes and nuclear apocalypse. I had always been fascinated by comics but it had taken me several weeks to make up my mind to buy Watchmen; for someone on a publisher's assistant's salary it was some quite unheard-of sum of money. I began reading on the Tube home. I read all weekend and by Monday morning I still had a couple of chapters to go. For the book itself, I refer you to pretty much any review – intelligent, multi-layered, extraordinary, etc – but what I remember 20 years later is not so much what I thought of it, as its effect on me. That Monday at work I felt almost physically sick: sick from not being able to read Watchmen. The primary colours of Dave Gibbons's art danced in my head – everything else seemed grey and unreal. No other book ever took hold of me like that. That evening I went home and finished it. Then I was no longer sick. Only bereft.
I had actually been a fan of Alan Moore for some years prior to reading Watchmen, but as amazed as I had been by all of his previous work, nothing could have prepared me for the effect Watchmen would have on me.
And what makes him such a remarkable talent is that he can still manage to take you by surprise.
Maybe Try A Different Position?
Latest spam subject line:
I just started having sex, and my boyfriend keeps popping out when we do it.
I'm not clear on what the "just started" signifies here. It could mean just recently, like she was a virgin up until a short time ago, at which point she began engaging in sexual activities, or it be more immediate and mean "just now, as I'm writing this."
If it's the latter, maybe if you weren't splitting your focus things would work out a little better. You can send out spam or you can have sex, but you'd probably be better off not trying to do both at the same time.
The wording of the subject line makes for an awkard transition to haiku, but here's what I managed to put together:
Started having sex
And my boyfriend keeps popping
Out when we do it
Feel free to post your own haiku versions in the comments.
I just started having sex, and my boyfriend keeps popping out when we do it.
I'm not clear on what the "just started" signifies here. It could mean just recently, like she was a virgin up until a short time ago, at which point she began engaging in sexual activities, or it be more immediate and mean "just now, as I'm writing this."
If it's the latter, maybe if you weren't splitting your focus things would work out a little better. You can send out spam or you can have sex, but you'd probably be better off not trying to do both at the same time.
The wording of the subject line makes for an awkard transition to haiku, but here's what I managed to put together:
Started having sex
And my boyfriend keeps popping
Out when we do it
Feel free to post your own haiku versions in the comments.
Tuesday, October 09, 2007
Some Numbers
Payoff amount on my car loan: $958 and some odd cents
Amount I paid for new tires, a new rim, various "flushes" that apparently needed to be done, and an oil change: $942 and some odd cents
I only point this out because I was seriously considering paying off the car, but the car clearly had other ideas for that money (except for the $16 - so nice of it to leave me a little something).
Amount I paid for new tires, a new rim, various "flushes" that apparently needed to be done, and an oil change: $942 and some odd cents
I only point this out because I was seriously considering paying off the car, but the car clearly had other ideas for that money (except for the $16 - so nice of it to leave me a little something).
The Internet, Take Two (Bonus: Car Repairs!)
So yesterday, after weeks of waiting, was finally the day on which Verizon showed up to connect my super-fast FiOS Internet.
The tech arrived around 9 AM and was optimistic that it wouldn't take long or much work.
That immediately made me suspicious.
He soon regretted saying it.
The previous owner had only had FiOS Internet, not Internet and TV, and having both requires that there be a cable jack in the same room as the Ethernet jack.
I picked the room that had the Ethernet jack as my office (for other reasons besides that), but naturally that ensured that it was the only bedroom without a cable jack.
So he had to take the time to install a new dual jack that had Ethernet and cable outlets, which meant drilling some holes so that he could run a cable to the attic and down into the closet in the office, and also run a cable from the cable box to the phone/network box.
So that took a while, and even after it was done, the router – I have to use a Verizon-specific wireless router in order for the connection to work – wasn’t getting a signal lock.
So he had to totally replace the network box.
Eventually, 3+ hours later, he had it up and running and it was amazing. I downloaded a 1.5 GB file in about 10 minutes.
He then got to setting up my TV and DVR service, which went off mostly without a hitch, except that for some reason they’d neglected to include all of the non-premium HD channels in my packet. He told me that they probably wouldn’t be turned on until the next day, but I wasn’t terribly concerned, as I was at least getting all of the networks’ HD channels.
So he left and everything was cool.
Until I went back up to the office and decided I would set up a wireless network with the new router.
I went to the router’s config page and tried to log in with the default information.
No luck, so, per the instructions on Verizon’s FiOS site, I held in the “reset” button for ten seconds to restore it to factory default.
When it came back up the Internet light wouldn’t come back on and I no longer had connectivity.
I called tech support, who concluded that the router must have fried when I reset it, so they would dispatch someone in the morning with a replacement.
*Sigh* So after waiting for weeks and finally getting super-fast Internet, I killed it within an hour.
This morning the tech showed up, hooked up a new router, and it was the same deal.
Eventually he was able to determine that the problem was that the previous tech had hooked it up so that the networking was entirely via coax rather than coax and Ethernet.
The router needs to be connected to the coax, as the DVR uses the router to download the program guide, on demand programming, and the information for the widgets (little on-screen graphics that tell you the weather and traffic conditions and etc.), and the first tech apparently thought it was easiest to just have the whole thing running on coax. In fact, on the new network box he’d installed, he didn’t even connect the Ethernet to the house.
Long story short, the second tech simply plugged in the Ethernet to the house and got the router to connect that way.
So now I have Internet.
I’d gotten up early yesterday to be sure to be ready when the Verizon tech arrived, and I had to get up early again this morning to be ready when the second tech arrived, and also to bring my car into the shop.
Some time ago the car started making a noise and had a slight shudder. Noise and shudder eventually got worse, so I brought it in to get checked out.
Turns out the problem was from worn out tires and a bent rim. So I have to get new tires and a new rim. Not sure how this didn’t get noticed when I had my safety inspection done, as I doubt that the wear and the bending happened in under a month, and the last time I had the tires replaced it was determined that it needed to be done as a result of my safety inspection.
Oh well.
In any case, I’m going to post this while I have a working connection, and I’m going to leave said connection alone for a while before I try setting up the wireless network.
The tech arrived around 9 AM and was optimistic that it wouldn't take long or much work.
That immediately made me suspicious.
He soon regretted saying it.
The previous owner had only had FiOS Internet, not Internet and TV, and having both requires that there be a cable jack in the same room as the Ethernet jack.
I picked the room that had the Ethernet jack as my office (for other reasons besides that), but naturally that ensured that it was the only bedroom without a cable jack.
So he had to take the time to install a new dual jack that had Ethernet and cable outlets, which meant drilling some holes so that he could run a cable to the attic and down into the closet in the office, and also run a cable from the cable box to the phone/network box.
So that took a while, and even after it was done, the router – I have to use a Verizon-specific wireless router in order for the connection to work – wasn’t getting a signal lock.
So he had to totally replace the network box.
Eventually, 3+ hours later, he had it up and running and it was amazing. I downloaded a 1.5 GB file in about 10 minutes.
He then got to setting up my TV and DVR service, which went off mostly without a hitch, except that for some reason they’d neglected to include all of the non-premium HD channels in my packet. He told me that they probably wouldn’t be turned on until the next day, but I wasn’t terribly concerned, as I was at least getting all of the networks’ HD channels.
So he left and everything was cool.
Until I went back up to the office and decided I would set up a wireless network with the new router.
I went to the router’s config page and tried to log in with the default information.
No luck, so, per the instructions on Verizon’s FiOS site, I held in the “reset” button for ten seconds to restore it to factory default.
When it came back up the Internet light wouldn’t come back on and I no longer had connectivity.
I called tech support, who concluded that the router must have fried when I reset it, so they would dispatch someone in the morning with a replacement.
*Sigh* So after waiting for weeks and finally getting super-fast Internet, I killed it within an hour.
This morning the tech showed up, hooked up a new router, and it was the same deal.
Eventually he was able to determine that the problem was that the previous tech had hooked it up so that the networking was entirely via coax rather than coax and Ethernet.
The router needs to be connected to the coax, as the DVR uses the router to download the program guide, on demand programming, and the information for the widgets (little on-screen graphics that tell you the weather and traffic conditions and etc.), and the first tech apparently thought it was easiest to just have the whole thing running on coax. In fact, on the new network box he’d installed, he didn’t even connect the Ethernet to the house.
Long story short, the second tech simply plugged in the Ethernet to the house and got the router to connect that way.
So now I have Internet.
I’d gotten up early yesterday to be sure to be ready when the Verizon tech arrived, and I had to get up early again this morning to be ready when the second tech arrived, and also to bring my car into the shop.
Some time ago the car started making a noise and had a slight shudder. Noise and shudder eventually got worse, so I brought it in to get checked out.
Turns out the problem was from worn out tires and a bent rim. So I have to get new tires and a new rim. Not sure how this didn’t get noticed when I had my safety inspection done, as I doubt that the wear and the bending happened in under a month, and the last time I had the tires replaced it was determined that it needed to be done as a result of my safety inspection.
Oh well.
In any case, I’m going to post this while I have a working connection, and I’m going to leave said connection alone for a while before I try setting up the wireless network.
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