31 January 2007
I don't think I accomplished anything today. Oh, wait. A friend e-mailed an essay to me and asked me to proof-read it over the phone to her. She did well with the piece. Why she would seek my advice I will never really know.
I watched Adaptation.
30 January 2007
Richie had plans during the day so I did not work with him. I went job-hunting. There is nothing new to report on that front. I am hopeful about a few of the positions I put in for. This is the fun part of the job search: the waiting game. All I can do is keep looking and keep putting in applications. Something will turn up somewhere. I hope.
I saw Dana later in the afternoon. He has already started moving some of his stuff over to the new place. We purchased some frozen pizzas for dinner, talked, and watched TV. I don't really watch much TV but when I'm over his place this is inevitably what we do because the TV is always on.
I guess Richie is also busy tomorrow. That's OK because it allows me more time to look for a full-time job.
29 January 2007
I worked with Richie today. We tested a bunch of CD drives (readers and writers). He surprised me today by cooking some chicken for lunch. That was nice.
I spent some time going through several newspapers. I didn't find anything of note.
28 January 2007
Today I did some really exciting things like shopping for food and doing some cleaning. I can't believe I have any energy left to write. At least I was able to put up the new shower curtain. What a blast. Really.
27 January 2007
I installed a "new" hard drive in Megatron today. It came from another system and the plan is to transfer data from Megatron's current drive before I re-install the OS.
26 January 2007
I finished most of the project with Richie. We just have to finish the serial interface and see if it works.
Part of me wants to go out tonight. I don't think I will, though. I haven't been "out" in a while. I'm sure the women out there would just love to hear about my recent exploits.
25 January 2007
This morning I went to work with Richie. It's nice to have some work available but I know I won't be working enough hours to pay my bills. I need to find something to supplement this job.
Later in the day, I saw Dana in the parking lot of a supermarket. He was quite surprised that I left my job. We drove around and talked and he wished me luck. I will probably see him next week-end when I help him move.
24 January 2007
I went to work tonight expecting to be accosted and forced to use the new time clock system. This did not happen. The third shift lead person knew I made up my mind but she said she hoped that I'd reconsider. That was nice, I thought. She could have just sent me home right away. I least I worked another night. I can't, in good conscience, comply with this system. She said that she understood. A note from my supervisor said to stay until 6:00 AM to receive the training for the new system. That meant I would be enrolled. I stayed until 5:00 AM and left a note saying I would be back in two hours. The breakfast sandwich I bought at the store helped to fill the pit that I had in my stomach.
When I told my boss that I was resigning he laughed. I guess he didn't think I was serious. I'm beginning to get that from a lot of people. I explained my reasons again. What really bothers me about the whole deal is the fact that I requested some alternative to this system and I was categorically rebuffed. I did not want to leave my job. I liked my work, my supervisor, and the people in my department. The job had its moments but overall it was an OK place. I wanted to take advantage of the tuition reimbursement offered by the company and get a new set of glasses. I guess none of this is to be.
After leaving, I purchased some resistors and diodes for the project Richie and I are working on. They didn't need any help at the electronics store. I despise looking for a job...
I visited the cemetery where my dad is. That didn't go too well.
23 January 2007
I found out that I'll only be working for Richie on Thursday and Friday this week because he has other engagements. This is OK. I have an electronics project to work on for him and I will do this at home. I am to make a chip reader with a serial interface so we can get the supervisor passwords from several laptops. These passwords are not cleared by removing the CMOS battery or removing a jumper.
Tonight at work I received some disturbing news. The company I work for is instituting a new time clock system that requires an employee to use a fingerprint and the last four digits of his Social Security Number to be authenticated. This does not sit too well with me as I consider it to be an invasion of privacy. Before I was hired, I understood that I would be subjected to a background check and that my name would be compared to a terrorist database. This was OK with me. However, the collection of biometric data is not OK with me. I was supposed to enroll in the system this morning. I said I would have to talk with my supervisor.
My supervisor listened to what I had to say and said he would talk with someone from the human resources department to see if an alternative method of "punching in" could be used. This was huge, I thought, because it made sense to me that there should be some alternative to the "new" system. I was counseled by my supervisor that there probably wasn't an alternative system available but he said he would see what he could do.
I received a call at home about two hours later from my boss. He said he talked with the head of HR and that I should talk with her as well. I decided to talk with the lady from HR in person.
I went in the HR office and nobody was around but I heard someone talking in another room. I waited a while. Then I knocked a few times on the counter. Nothing. I knocked a few more times.
"I'm on the phooooooone!" a female's voice yelled. This is going to go really well, I thought.
"Sorry. I didn't know that," I said. Soon after, a lady appeared from the room. I asked if she was so-and-so and she said she was. We went into her office and I closed the door. I asked if I could sit because I wasn't offered a seat.
Have you ever talked to a wall? This experience was similar. I explained my reservations about the system and asked for some alternative. The gist of her answer went like this: "No." The highlight of the meeting was when I asked her if she thought the system was foolproof and failsafe. She emphatically replied in the positive. I countered that her statement was incredibly ignorant. Her jaw loosened a little bit but did not completely drop. At least I got some reaction. I thanked her for seeing me and left. I think she thought I was going to accept the company's stance.
I called my boss several times but I was unable to reach him. I have made my decision.
22 January 2007
I managed to make it through work last night without falling asleep. This is good. I also managed to take care of the laundry. This is good, too. I figured I ought to do this rather mundane task because I wasn't working for Richie today. It made sense for me to get it out of the way. I've come to the conclusion that I'm not going to be picking up any women while I wash my clothes. The hours that I work make it such that the only people I see at the laundromat are elderly women and seemingly unemployed males. This is not the demographic that I'm looking for.
21 January 2007
I spent some time today organizing the files on Megatron to help with the planned re-installation of Slackware.
I couldn't sleep at all today. This is not good as I have to go back to work tonight.
20 January 2007
Today we had the memorial service for my father. Here I had the chance to see and talk with many people I haven't been in contact with for years. It was incredibly awkward and I tried to get through the thing by remembering that it wasn't about me and it didn't really matter how I felt. I was there to honor my father but it didn't seem like enough for some reason. I am left with so many positive memories and that is what I gravitate toward when I feel like I haven't done enough. Does that make any sense at all?
It became a running joke with some of my dad's friends from Boy Scouts when they often saw me standing alone in a corner while others were engaged in conversation. I told them that it happens at parties, too. This is just how I am. I mentioned earlier how socially inept I am. I guess I'm more of an observer. I don't know. Sometimes it's uncomfortable but I deal with it. I wasn't mean to anyone (I think). The joking was in good fun, though, and I didn't take offense. They're good people.
It actuality it was nice to see all the family and friends at the memorial. Granted, the circumstances could have been better but the overall gist of the gathering was positive. Dad was great and I'm very fortunate to have had the time that I did have with him. Many sons do not get to have the close bond that we shared. This, like the positive memories, makes me smile.
My brother did something really cool at the service. He obtained some helium balloons and had everyone there write a message to Dad on the balloons. We let the balloons go outside while "Taps" played. This was followed by a 21-gun salute with fireworks. I found this to be a really thoughtful touch.
19 January 2007
It's the end of the "regular" work week. The trumpets of joy blare without end. OK. So it's Friday. Because I have no "hot dates" lined up for the week-end I am not too excited. I am convinced that Ms. Right is out there. I'm just waiting for her to be paroled. I'm sure I took that from somewhere and I would cite the source but I can't find it. If anyone knows who originally said this (a comedian, perhaps?) please let me know. We try to adhere to strict academic standards here...
I went to Richie's today and helped take apart an IBM Thinkpad T30. Laptops seem to be very delicate. I haven't dealt with laptop computers much (other than Starscream) so this is very interesting to me. I also spent some time testing hard drives. How can you beat that for a second job?
18 January 2007
Today I helped Richie at his computer shop after getting out of work at my full-time job. I think we did some things. It's good to be doing something that I like rather than taking a second job that I know I'd hate. I think of myself as rather socially inept and this seems to negate any "dealing with people"-type jobs. Richie is to cool to work with/for.
17 January 2007
Work seemed to go well.
I went to the Slackware site and I saw that they're up to version 11 now. This required some further research on my part so I printed out a list of changes. I'm not sure if I'm going to use version 11 or stick with 10.2 for Megatron.
16 January 2007
I spent some time organizing Megatron and getting Starscream working again. I installed Windows 98 back onto Starscream and had to find drivers for the video and the NIC. I concluded that it's easier to find these drivers via the websites of the actual manufacturers rather than a web search. I don't know why I should have to subscribe to any such service when the files that I need are right there. Maybe I just got lucky.
Work seemed to go by quickly. This is good. The ride home was made easier due to a super-fine breakfast sandwich. I should note that these entries may not be absolutely correct regarding the date headings. I am mentioning this for the sake of continuity. Basically, things are messed up because I was sick.
I did watch an interesting movie called American Splendor.
15 January 2007
I did not go to work tonight because I am not feeling well. I have a headache and my stomach hurts. I've been kicking myself all night. This always happens when I call in to work. I think to myself: "You know, you could have gone in. It wasn't that bad." So on top of the headache and indigestion I am plagued by guilt. Great. I'm feeling better already.
14 January 2007
I am in the process of cleaning up Megatron with the short-term goal of re-installing the OS (Slackware or BSD). This is no light task. The files are everywhere and some sort of organization would be nice for the new installation. When will this happen? I have no idea.
13 January 2007
I spent the early part of today driving around paying bills, food shopping, and seeing a friend who is going on vacation. I visited what I like to call the "social mecca." This is commonly referred to as "the mall." I had a thought that maybe the mall is less of a social destination with the advent of networking sites such as MySpace. The parking lot was rather full, though, so this seemed to negate that idea. Maybe I'll think about it more later. Who am I kidding? Someone has probably already written a piece about this.
I went to the store in the mall that caters to me the most: Sears. At Sears I purchased some precision screwdrivers for some computer work that I hope to do with Richie. I purchased screwdrivers in sizes 00, 000, and 0000.
Returning home, I added some pictures to the Webshots site. I still would like to have pictures available here but I am worried that there may be bandwidth issues. While the hosting service offers unlimited bandwidth, I don't want to take up too much space-time. It's not like my pictures are going to be seen by everyone in the entire world but sometimes I think it's best not to make waves. Another reason I like to have the pictures off-site is because I believe in spreading out security and data concerns. Diversification, if you will.
12 January 2007
The work week is over. I am happy it is the week-end. However, I realize that it will end seemingly too soon and I will once again be back at work. This is my only gripe with working 3rd shift: the week-ends seem way too short. Everybody, regardless of shift, probably feels this way. I should stop complaining and be thankful I have a week-end at all, right?
After work I visited Richie at his computer repair shop. We had a super-fine time. As far as actually accomplishing anything... Well, that's another story. We did manage to get a piece of shrink-tubing over a frayed laptop power supply cable. I was happy to help. After a rather inspiring lunch (in which I failed to get the phone number of the waitress) we parted ways. I put a link to Richie's site on the "Links" page (how appropriate).
Because I stayed awake for most of the day, my sleep schedule is screwed up. This is typical of a week-end.
11 January 2007
I am keenly aware of what happened a month ago and it still bothers me. I think it always will. "They" say that time heals but right now I don't believe it.
10 January 2007
I have been combing the Web for information about HTML, CSS, and SSI. It is a process that I find to be a distinctly perverse joy. I am coming away from this with many ideas and few implementations. So far I am keeping the table structure until I can put together something better. By "better" I mean a more intuitive and less cumbersome design. I realize that there are probably 3.22x10^7 people reading these pages and thinking: "What a moron. Doesn't he know he can just [insert whatever helpful piece of information that is so "obvious"] and all his problems will be solved?" Who am I kidding? There is no way 3.22x10^7 people are looking at this site.
A few jobs at work posed several problems. These were mostly customer specification issues. Paperwork. Sometimes I'd just like to do my job and not have to worry about the paperwork. Everything has it's place, I guess.
9 January 2007
I am never satisfied. While the hosting service seems to be working fine, I am not content with the way the pages look. This is due to my lack of knowledge (or forgotten knowledge or whatever excuse I have at the ready) of designing websites. This is OK, though, because I view it as a challenge of sorts. I want to write better HTML. I'm using a bunch of tables and it seems to me that this method of page division/layout will become unwieldy quite soon. Using CSS seems the way to go, from what I've read. I've been out of the game for a long time, I guess. I've never used CSS before. It seems like I can figure it out. I'm glad I have some programming experience. This reminds me that I haven't written any code in several years now. Hell, I haven't designed a website in well over a year now. Time to catch up.
Another night of work down. Two more to go this week. The week itself is going by quickly, even though the nights drag. I called my mom during a break. She says she's doing OK but I'm still concerned. Sometimes I wished I lived closer. I bought another breakfast sandwich.
8 January 2007
I found a web hosting service for this site. It allows 250 megabytes of storage space, unlimited traffic, and no ads or pop-ups. I have uploaded several of the the pages for this site. It seems to look OK, but sometimes the tables look a little messed up when viewed with IE. I am using Firefox 1.5 (I know, I could be running 2.0.0.1 or something closer to the newest version but I am slow to update) and have no problems viewing the pages. By mentioning updates, I have painfully reminded myself of how much cleaning and tuning Megatron needs. Perhaps a fresh install is in order. Yet another thing to add to the "to do" list. Oh well. Constructing this site is taking up the majority of my "free" time these days.
The work day (or night) passed without incident. This is fine as far as I'm concerned. I stopped by the convenience store near my place of work and purchased a breakfast sandwich. I consumed this sandwich (very tasty) while driving home.
Finally, the laundry is done. I always seem to find something more important to do when the time comes to do the laundry. I don't know why this particular chore is such a drag. Maybe it's because I have no laundry facilities where I live.
While the clothes dried, I picked up Dana and drove him to the garage where the Golf received a new timing belt. Sometimes I miss the Golf. This usually happens when I have to put gas in the truck.
7 January 2007
Work went well. As well as it could go, anyway, for being the first day back after the weekend. I guess I should point out that I work the 3rd shift and these postings may be a day behind. That's the story of my life, I guess. So in actuality I am writing this on the 8th. Sunday night is my Monday, if that makes any sense. I ate the chicken that my mom made. That was pretty much the highlight of the work day.
I really need to do some laundry. However, it is raining outside and my motivation to do the laundry is shot. I am able to rationalize. I can justify. The bottom line is the laundry still isn't done. I don't think I'll lose any sleep. As an aside, I did do some cleaning. Perhaps I'm only mentioning this to make myself feel better about not doing the laundry.
I am trying to find a web hosting service for this site. I had one such service in mind but the thought of ads and pop-ups did not sit too well with me. In effect, I am composing these pages and journals and ideas for myself at the moment. This is OK. At some point this thing will be on-line. I am also trying to gather/organize some of my other writings. I am beginning to realize that this is a project that will never "really" get done. This is OK, too.
6 January 2007
I guess this entry is somewhat recursive in nature. I am writing that I wrote an entry. Actually, I am in the process of building the entire web site. It is daunting in that I don't know if it has any value to the world at large. Perhaps I need to stop thinking in such extremes and just "go with the flow" as it were.
The highlight of the day, though, was when I visited my mom. I try to see her once a week or so. She lives about an hour away (give or take) so it's not like she's just around the corner. The visit went well. She cooked chicken (my favorite) and sent me home with the leftovers. This is fortunate because I will have food for lunch at work tomorrow. I am upset with myself for getting a late start and not being able to spend that much time with her.
I spoke with my friend Ian R. today. We haven't talked in a seriously long time. It was good to catch up. I imagine we will be in contact again. You never know, though. It's funny how friendships drift over the years. There was a time in high school when my friends and I would be in contact almost every day. This would happen during the summer, too, so the common meeting place of "the high school" wouldn't necessarily be what brought us together. Maybe life pulls people apart. I don't know.