Tuesday, November 30, 2004

The Power Has Returned!

OCZ Technologies sent my new power supply to me today and it is even better than my original. It seems they made a second revision of the model that I purchased and I got the updated version. YAY! There is more shielding on some of the connectors and they included the six pin connector for my X800 XT instead of me having to use an adapter. The upside is that this power supply actually turns on. That is always good.

In other news, I had this mother and daughter team of shoppers wig out on me yesterday. The mom told me that I should find a new job and I agreed; she then asked me what my manager's name was and I told her. After she realized that her request for my manager's name was not having the desired effect on me she angrily stomped off and complained to one of my co-workers. Why all of the fuss? Because, we did not sell Dell laptops in the store and I pointed out to her that the coupon she was referring to was valid only online. Oh yeah, also because I did not notice them right away when they approached the counter I was standing at. She was extremely rude in getting my attention and that means that odds are, I am not going to be overly excited to help her out. Was I rude to her as she claimed, yes I was. Was she rude to me first, yes she was. Some say that I should not have stooped down to her level, I say that she should not have been rude to me. :) So far, my theory about members is holding. If I make them mad there is only about a 50% chance that they are going to tell someone. If they do tell someone, there is only about a 50% chance that I will even hear about it. This member, as mad as she was, so far has not said anything to anyone that makes a difference or at least I haven't heard if she has. Oh well, one way or the other life will go on.

Friday, November 26, 2004

A Dark Day

First off, let me apologize for not being more frequent in my postings as of late. As I stated in my previous post, I have been playing City of Heroes a lot and work a lot as well. When it comes to this blog, I have been a slacker.

Thanksgiving was nice. My family and Mushi's family met at her sister's house and we all had dinner and spent the day there. Mushi had to go to work later on that night so what did I do, thats right, I came home and played City of Hero's. Dylan, Melissa, and Tony also came over and watched Being John Malcovich with me. All in all, a pretty laid back day.

And then there is today, a dark, dark day. Possibly the darkest day in all of retaildom, Black Friday. In less than an hour I have to go to work and I have a dreadful suspicion that I will being going to work with half of Boise already there and waiting for me. I hate the day after Thanksgiving for the sole purpose that I hate having to navigate through the busy streets and busy stores fill with wave after wave of cattle trying to buy Christmas presents, as if Thanksgiving were some magical starter pistol firing off the shot to signal the beginning of the Christmas season. The sales are usually not that good unless the retail industry is tanking hard that year and I don't like the idea that the difference of twenty-four hours ushers in the Holiday Season. Maybe it is just me. I am so tempted to bring my fifth of Malibu Rum to work with me today and just carry around a rum and Coke with me all day in a paper cup. I have done this before....dare I do it again. Well, I need to take off. I will post later to update you on how all of the madness went. Oh BTW, the president of my company is coming to my store today to see how it all runs. Joy.

Sunday, November 21, 2004

Life in The Big City

Over the past couple of days I have been playing a lot of City of Heroes. I dig that game. Fortunately, after the PSU died in my big computer, I was able to pop the game on to my laptop and it runs it pretty well. I think the part I love the most about that game is the huge environment that the game takes place in. The city is enormous and there are tons of things to see, statues, buildings, not to mention the unique looking super heroes runing about on the streets. Its just a downright entertaining game.

In other news, there has been a big shakeup at my work. My boss is stepping down and being replaced by the manager of the tire shop. I think this is for the better. My boss wasn't a very good manager and I think the icing on the cake for that was the fact that yesterday he let myself and another guy write the schedule for the department. While it was fun, it was not our job. I think my boss has basically given up. So, next week, we will be getting a new boss. Maybe this one will be more qualified to be a manager.

Well, time to go to work. WOOHOO!!

Friday, November 19, 2004

The Good News and The Bad News

Today has been a mixed bag. I got off work tonight and met Spyder at my house, this was good. Spyder wanted to give me my Christmas present early and that was also good. He gave me City of Heroes, Thanks Spyder! I am downloading the patches for the game onto my laptop as I type this.

Now you might ask why I am loading the game onto my laptop and not my desktop that has all of the screaming hardware, I'll tell you why. My bastard PSU decided it was going to take a dump on me tonight! Beh! I go to turn the system on and nothing. It flicked on for not even a second and then dead...DEAD! I luckily had a crappy PII system I was working on for someone and so I decided to take out its PSU and put in mine. What happens? Nothing. Nada. Zip. My bigass 520 watt power supply can't even run a PII. Beh again.

On the upside, the PSU is under warranty so the fine people at OCZ will be giving me a new one. Until then, I have a $2500 TV tray sitting next to my couch. GRRRRRR. At least I have my faithful laptop.

Thursday, November 18, 2004

Progress

I am making progress. Yesterday, I decided that I had been lifting weights long enough to up my lifting by ten pounds on all of my machines I have been using. I had been worried about that moment since I started lifting about two weeks ago; what if I had not made any progress at all? Fortunately, I went through my workout with basically no problems at that weight level. I am proud of myself and happy to see that I am making progress although it does not feel like I am making big strides.

I think sometimes I push myself too hard and expect too much of myself. Mushi says that at some things I am setting myself up for failure because my goals are too lofty. This is especially true when it comes to my working out and getting more fit. I tend to over estimate what I should be doing and end up either hurting myself or failing at it because I do not have either the self-control or the training to follow through to the goal. Anywho, I don't think I am doing that this time. I am taking baby steps and it seems to be working so far. Every week and a half to two weeks, I am going to up my weight limit by ten pounds. Eventually if my progress keeps up, I will be to where I think I should be as far as my fitness is concerned.

In other news....well...there hasn't been a lot of other news. Mushi and I are considering moving into a bigger house at some point but we haven't quite decided when or to where. We will probably stay in the Boise area for a while more so that Mushi can get herself established as a nurse. We also went to "Polar Express" last night and I have to admit, it was a cute movie. It will probably become one of the newer Christmas classics like "A Christmas Story" and the graphics were very good. Lots of movement and background animation, I am guessing that movie took a while to render. So, if you need to see a movie but don't know which one, "Polar Express" is a fun one. Especially, if you see it at the Imax.

Monday, November 15, 2004

Pure Energy

That is what I am right now. Since I started working out a couple of weeks ago, I have been bouncing off walls for the most part. I am going to assume it is the weight lifting that is giving me this scary amount of energy. I have a hard time going to sleep until almost 4am, part of this may be to the fact that I have been playing Halo 2 and I lose track of time. Halo 2 is a pretty decent game, no huge leaps in gaming innovation but not a bad game either. It is merely okay.

I am hoping that Half Life 2 is better than Halo 2. The fun part is that HL2 is out tomorrow...the not so fun part, I doubt I will be getting it. The reason is two fold, first, it is getting to be too close to Christmas to be buying games for myself. Second, I want the deluxe edition of the game so I can have it on one DVD rather than five (yes, five) cds but, I don't want to pay $80 for it. I guess I can't have my cake and eat it too.

I went out to a late lunch with Spyder today and that was fun. Now that he is over in sales with me, one of our co-workers named Barry is being an ass to him. Basically, Barry is the kind of guy that has led an overall mediocre life but in order to make himself feel special, he bosses people around. Barry has absolutely no exceptional qualities other than the fact he is really good at being an ass. Anywho, Barry has chosen Spyder to be his bitch for the holidays and that will not fly. Spyder stands a good chance at getting shipped out to Iraq soon and if he does, his last day at work, he is going to punch Barry. While I do not normally condone violence, in Barry's case I can make an exception. I hope Spyder knocks him out.

In other news, I started Chistmas shopping today. This is a record for me as I almost always wait until the last week before Christmas to get everything done. Today, I got Mushi's present, her sister's, and my brother's all in one fell swoop. Mushi and I are off to a good start for this holiday season. Soon, I am going to get my friends their gifts and Mushi and I's parents as well. With all of the energy I have had lately, I could do it all in one day if it weren't for the dreaded confines of money. :)

Thursday, November 11, 2004

Working Out

I have started working out and lifting weights and must say that as of this posting, I am sore. I started last week but seriously started my routine tonight. I brought a pad and pen with me tonight and recorded what machines I was using and at what weight. This way I will be able to chart my progress. My plan is to do the same routine every other day and every two weeks, up the weight. We will see how this goes.

I am doing a variety of leg and upper body workouts in an effort to keep everything developing at an even pace. I kind of wish I had a personal trainer for the sole purpose to just suggest tweaks to my routine. I found a workout plan and kind of molded it to my liking. I do not like free weights! For one reason or another, I always feel like people are watching me when I use them. The people that use the free weights at the gym I go to are all usually football players and serious body builders and sometimes they give me a look that says, "Why is your chubby ass here?" Maybe it is all just me and I have self-esteem issues when it comes to my weight, which I know I do to an extent, but sometimes I honestly get the feeling that I am not wanted in that section. So I like to stay upstairs where the workout machines are located.

So, why am I doing this? Two reasons: 1) Mushi would never say this to me, but I know that chubby guys are not usually the ones that she would go for. This is not to say that she is shallow, but she has preferences. We all do. I am trying to look better for her. 2) I want to look better for me too. I have tried out this chubby guy thing for the better part of a decade and am sick of it. I used to be really thin...DAMNED YOU NINTENDO! I do not want to be thin, I want to be quasi-buff...or at least toned. I have a frame that is more suitable for a body builder and I want to utilize it. My brother's frame is more of a basketball player one and while he looks very good and toned, I think that if I try, I can look better or at least more muscular. In part, as stupid as it may sound, I am competing with my brother. There are also the health aspects to consider as well. I would like to live without the aid of a ton of medications and surgeries and being fit will help that. Cancer is rather common in my family, especially on my mom's side and I would rather not get cancer. My mom's side of the family is definitely the one that I take after and I am a tad bothered by this. On the upside, most of that part of the family are exceptionally big people and they do not tend to suffer from things that fat people normally get like diabetes. So I have that going for me but I would rather not risk it.

So yeah, I am working out. I am a tad sore but I am also determined. The next step will be to get my diet under control and that will be the hardest part. I can do this though, I am ready.

Saturday, November 06, 2004

Damn You DMCA!

First my grandma, then Ryzel, and now my little brother. Tonight I went over to his place because he said his internet was down and when I get there and bring everything back up, I find a nice letter saying that CableOne booted my brother because he downloaded Shrek 2 and The Notebook. Now he has to delete the files and say he will never do it again and then they will re-instate his connection. The one thing I am uneasy with is the way that the document is worded, it almost sounds like you would have to forfeit your right to make a defense if the MPAA decided to sue you.

I don't do a lot of downloading anymore and I definitely stay away from movies and MP3s for the most part. I am beginning to think that it is a good thing that I don't mod any fxp boards anymore. :)

Friday, November 05, 2004

Boring Downtime

I can't stand the period between Halloween and Thanksgiving. I love Halloween and the time of the year that it represents for me and get very excited as it approaches, but once its over, I hate waiting for Thanksgiving. This to me is one of the most boring periods during the year. Once Thanksgiving hits, your on a Yule Tide rollercoaster that will carry you through to the new year but until then, boredom.

I haven't written very many thought provoking entries lately largely because I have been trying not to think too hard. I am in a mindset with work that as long as I don't think about it, it tends to be an ok experience....at least as tolerable as a soul-sucking, worthless job can be. :) Tomorrow, my manager has decided that he actually wants to work a shift that will overlap into my closing shift which means that I will have to endure his presence for about three hours. It should be a cheerful time with much optimism and praise to be had. I am not kidding when I say that either, the guy has way too much optimism for his own good. My co-workers and I have tried to squelch that out of him but it is a slow process. Though now, I am sure he goes home and cries himself to sleep due to the havoc we wreak on him.

Annoying people of the day: So I am ahead of schedule and thinking that I am going to be able to escape early when some customers decide they are going ot sit down with their toddler and have a nice post-shopping snack. This happens often and while it annoys me, it usually isn't a big deal....unless you are going to sit around and eat a full half an hour after the store has closed. Which is what these people did. I had to help them earlier that evening with a computer question and didn't much like them at the time but I really hated them while they were eating their pizza and hot dogs. How can people be so selfishly blind that they do not notice they are the only people in the entire store? Employees have lives too and by the looks of it, more meaninful ones than this family. I hate people who do that and hope they choke. Hot dog eaters piss me off.

In other news: My new computer is working well. I am glad I sprung for the X800 XT instead of a lesser video card. That thing rocks. I have been playing Doom 3 lately and must say, it is a somewhat suspenseful game. I am getting a tad sick of it though. After a while of playing it, you can anticipate where the enemies are going to spring out at you and what you have to do to trigger them. There are times though when that game has made me jump. If you are going to play Doom 3, do it with headpones or a really good set of speakers. The noises are the creepy part of the game.

Wow, it is 4am...I really need to get to bed. Good night!

Wednesday, November 03, 2004

Bush Wins!

It looks like Bush has won the race for re-election over Kerry. Kerry is scheduled to make his concession speech at 2pm ET and Bush is set to make his victory speech an hour after that.

I am glad Bush won for several reasons, the first being that I don't like one term presidents be they Republican or Democrat. I don't think four years is enough time to get a lot done in the bureaucracy that is the U.S. government. The second reason, I can't stand listening to Kerry and I really don't like listening to his wife either. Their voices, especially hers, drives me nuts and I am glad I don't have to listen to her for four or eight years. Lastly, I just think Bush is an all around better person to lead this country. He has integrity, moral clarity, and a sense of doing what he believes is right, even if others say he is wrong. Sometimes this i good, other times not so good but either way, at least he has the balls to do what he believes is good for the country and doesn't worry about the political ramifications.

Either way, all of this is my opinion and what looks to be the majority of America's opinion as well. Is Bush the best President ever, no, but I do think he is better than what Kerry could have been.

Tuesday, November 02, 2004

Let The Elections Begin!

Since it is a little after midnight, some states have officially begun to tally votes for this year's presidential election. Although some states have been holding early elections, I am not counting those. I do not think it is right that people have been able to vote for the past two weeks in some areas. Since when did we go from following the Constitution's one day of voting to one or two weeks of voting. I can see absentee ballots but not the voting a week before the election.

I am going to admit here and now that I am voting for Bush; let the laughing and finger pointing begin. My friends all think I am a heretic but thats ok, the fun part about being in a democracy is that you can argue about who you want for your leaders. I am willing to bet that Bush wins this thing by at least 10 electoral votes. I think it will be a pretty close race but I do expect Bush to win, as do most political analysts.

The one thing I am not looking forward to are the lawyers trying to find any little thing to litigate upon at the voting sites. I hope whoever wins does so by a decent margin just so we don't have to wait until December to find out who our President is going to be like in 2000. The people should be able to decide who wins, not the courts.

Anywho, I am probably going to update the blog throughout the election day because I love election days and watching all of the states votes come in. It has always intrigued me. So in closing, get out and vote or else you have absolutely no grounds for complaining because you did not even play the game.

Monday, November 01, 2004

Mutant Alert!

So CNN.com is running an article on a five year old girl that has a disease that makes it impossible for her to feel pain. The link is below:

Mutant or Diseased?

Basically, she has a genetic disorder that is untreatable and makes her immune to pain and extreme temperatures, be they hot or cold. Her parents have to check her for scrapes and cuts and whatnot because she won't know they are there. I see promise in this however, what if scientists were able to isolate and culture the gene that this girl has and do gene therapy on Special Forces troops to give them the mutation. Creepy huh? This kind of stuff is just around the corner and it would not surprise me at all if wierd genes like this young girls are eventually weaponized. I love technology.