Year: 2011

March Sixteenth.  How crazy.

News just came today that Nate Dogg died at age 41.  He was young.

In Japan last Friday there was a mega quake of 8.9 that tore up the city.  A tsunami came through and ravaged half of the eastern coast.  Meanwhile waves were sent as far as Mexico and even further south.  California and Oregon reported some heavy damage and at least one death was reported due to the waves.

Couldn’t get much worse right?  Wrong.  Then due to all of the earthquakes and subsequent aftershocks every hour or less… the nuclear reactor in Japan is now in high danger of releasing deadly radiation.  Not just one reactor, but I think there are a total of 4.  The US, UK and other countries are attempting to help yet from the outside it doesn’t appear so hopeful.  It is so sad, please pray for everyone who is dealing with this tragedy and for those helping out.

I heard a news story yesterday that said something along the lines of the following: If you take a job that is below you – or that pays lower than you were looking for, or that you have a low level of satisfaction with, mentally it is much worse for you and you will subsequently be more unhappy/negative than you would have been without finding a job what so ever.

Good to know.  Not that I can find a job anyway.  The news article was actually supposed to be for someone who can’t find a job, saying that it’s better off that you don’t find one until you get one that you would be a good fit for.

I’ve still been searching for a job in various places.  I am still having next to no luck finding anything.  Blah…

Tomorrow is Saint Patrick’s day.  Blazers beat the Mavs last night.  It was a good win for a team that seems to play up to the skills of their opponents.  That’s a bad habit, hopefully they’ll break themselves of it before too much longer.  Might not have enough time.  After all – there are only like 15 games left for us to play before playoffs are to start.

I didn’t notice until now that on my last blog I posted there was a chance for snow.  Well it turns out that we got some snow.  It was enough to cover the ground for a day or so.  That’s the first time it’s happened since living here.  It was cool to see.

My HP continues to have problems.  Nothing too major, but now the problem happens to be that the computer won’t shut down.  Yeah, right?  It shuts down normally but when it gets to the “Shutting down” screen on Windows 7 the computer just hangs in that screen and won’t turn off.  Its annoying.  I’ve done a BIOS update, HP updates, windows updates.  It isn’t just my computer having this problem so it makes me believe that its more of a wide spread problem than HP will let anyone on to.

Last bit of information… I’ve been trying to update the various websites that I maintain.  Implementing new html and other neat codes to give them a refreshed look.  Also adding captcha (when you have to verify the letters/numbers in a box) to reduce spam.  It’s been the biggest thing keeping me busy.  I might update my blog layout and the main site.  I have been meaning to for a while and I think it’ll actually get done sometime soon.

I guess thats all I have for now.

Until next time.

3 days.

Yes there are only three days remaining until Emily’s birthday.  It is kind of surprising that it is already here.  The end of the month.

So this is my second post this month!  It almost reminds me of the days when I use to blog every-single-day.  Or at least close to that because if I missed a day or two I had lots to talk about.  I think part of that might have been my illusion that I was speaking to a number of people.  Now it doesn’t matter to me.  I could be talking to ten thousand people or one person or perhaps just myself.  I blog as a sort of – release.

On the automotive side: Ford is going to be coming out with a few hybrids that you can plug in.  I think it’s pretty cool.  You can go fully electric or you can use gas.  It’s a preference which they leave to your controls.  This should help with people who are on the fence of getting a fully electric car.  I’d get one if I were making the money to warrant it.

This past weekend I was able to practice some voodoo by getting some Voodoo Doughnuts.  They’re good.  mmhmm

I still do not have any news on finding another job.  I am applying at various places from Seattle to Phoenix.  This week I think I will try to tinker with some web design and perhaps a few new projects.

I am beginning to think that my love for this city is a forbidden love.  Maybe I was only meant to like the sports team and follow them from afar.  I don’t really know.  It doesn’t look too promising.. and if I do have to move from this place I can’t see myself looking to come back for quite a while and even then there would need to be pretty good guarantees in place (better pay on a job, winning the lottery… etc).  It is so disheartening yet it is my reality.  What can I do?  Roll with the punches.  I seem to be pretty good at that.

There is a chance for snow this week on Wednesday, Thursday & Friday.  I know some people hate the idea of it.. but I hope we get it.  I’d love to see it.  Maybe I’d even take some pictures..

Thats all I have for now.  Until next time.

February 12th.

12 days ago = Willie’s birthday… 7 days ago = my mom’s birthday.. 1 day ago it was Brandy’s and in 2 days it will be Michael’s birthday.

Already?  Really?  I can’t believe it.  In some ways time has slowly been passing by… yet in other ways it seems as if I look up and another month has eluded me.

Since my last post: I’ve ordered a custom computer from HP.  This sucker was loaded.  I mean loaded.  The newest quad core processor from Intel (that was released only a few days before I placed my order), 1TB for space, 8GB, blu-ray, bluetooth, backlit keyboard and even a touchscreen display.  It was pretty much the computer I would have wanted to get from anyone but HP.  It didn’t matter to me.  No other computer manufacturer could build to those specs.  Plus I had this nifty $500 coupon I found online and verified it worked through HP’s website.  Heck, why not?  The thing would cost just about $1000 but that wasn’t bad considering everything that I had on the thing.  It was loaded and I was happy.  I wasn’t so sure about getting and HP after how much problems I have had with their products in the past.

I received the order on Jan 27th and started on my way.  I was pretty impressed by the computer at first.  It wasn’t made of plastic, but rather metal.  That would be nice because no fingerprints would get on it.  Then I tested out the touchscreen.  Worked beautifully.  Plus I had the backlit keys and the fingerprint reader so I was happy.  When I first started using the laptop the fan was a little noisy but if that was the biggest issue I would live with it.

It wasn’t.  After a few more days my keys started making this squeaking noise.  It was really only the “A” key but I didn’t think that this laptop worth 1500 should be having even minor issues like this.  I googled it, like most any sensible person would and found reviews of others that had the same problem to the point of having to send it in to get it fixed.  The problem wasn’t with the key but some cheap hardware that was used underneath.  Nevertheless, I figured that the worst case senario is that I’d live with that and the somewhat noisy fan.  I feel when you pay that much for a computer you can be as picky as you want.  The product shouldn’t be letting you down.

My only complaint that I would make about the laptop was the mouse pad.  This isn’t something that HP would be able to fix and perhaps it would improve over time with use.  My problem was that with the newer unibody mouse pad area, you had to press rather hard in order to click on items.  Also if you moved your finger slightly on the area where you needed to click, the cursor would move and sometimes you would end up clicking on something you didn’t want.  I know this would have changed over time, but this was my biggest complaint about the laptop.

I did a google search on my laptop just to see how others were liking this new HP product.  Then I noticed that Intel had (no more than 2 days earlier) released a notice saying there were errors in the newest processors that they released.  The article went on to explain how Toshiba and Dell were either offering extended warranties to consumers who had purchased the product, or how they would take the return with no questions asked for a refund.

I contacted HP (somewhat upset that they didn’t take the initiative to inform me ahead of time of the issue).  The rep over chat explained that they had indeed been notified of a problem and that they were no longer making the laptop I had.

Yeah, kind of bad news when I found that my new laptop with a new processor wasn’t in production any longer.  All I can think of is: Problems down the road & Obsolete.  HP has a 2 week return on all products with no questions asked.  I was only 3 or 4 days into owning it, so naturally I asked what I could do.  They told me I had 2 options; return it or they could replace it.

I told them I would gladly let them right the wrong and replace my unit.  The representative told me that there were some system issues and that I would need to contact customer service the next day to process the request.  I contacted customer service the next day and they told me that they could replace the unit.  They also began to explain the charges that I would be charged to a tune of 499 dollars.

?!?!?

What?  That’s right.  500 smackaroo’s if I wanted to get a comparable laptop with an older processor than the one I currently had.  Needless to say I was upset and told them if they wanted my business they would just exchange it out.  It was a no-go.  They said I would need to send my unit to be repaired if I wanted to go that route to fix the key and fan, otherwise they were not able to give a comparable unit for the same cost.  Outrageous.  I had problems sending my new unit  that had less than 4 days of use to the repair shop.  I also had problems with the Intel processor whose production was halted due to issues with the chips.  My best play was my only real option.  I let the rep know that I would be returning my product.  I printed out a shipping label and sent it out the next day.

A week later I checked on the return status and FedEx confirmed that HP received the laptop.  I contacted HP to confirm but they told me that there was no record at all of my return.  After spending hours and talking to numerous reps over the next day or two I am finally able to speak to some supervisor who acknowledged that I had the tracking number that confirmed that they had possession of the laptop.  The reps kept telling me that someone canceled my return and that instead I was going to be given a replacement.  I told them I had no problem with that if they could; but again I was told there would be charges if I decided to go that route.  Finally someone was able to manually call the return shop and verify that I was in fact telling the truth.  I had in fact already returned the laptop.

Geeze.  bad customer service.  It really is a shame because I really had liked the options that were on the laptop I had.  I wish that the quality would have been just a little better- but I was willing to give them another shot at redeeming themselves.  Now I’ve been without a computer again for another few weeks and counting.  I’m waiting it out to see what is the best thing.  I’m not so sure what I’ll end up with after all.

On the job front I have started to look everywhere.  In state and out of state.  I’ll see what we can come up with.  I can’t go much longer without having a main full time job.  I need the income even if that means moving.  It is entirely unfortunate because I never wanted to leave this city I love.

until next time

Christmas, New Years and my birthday have all passed.

As a new year is upon us, we are again moving at the speed of light.

My family visited my brother in Washington over the holiday (Christmas).  It went rather well.  There were not many blow ups.  Only a minor one where both my brother and my dad expressed their wishes to live elsewhere in the US.  Thats life.  Joy of joys…

On top of that, Maryia and myself the whole time were on the brink of breaking up.. again.  Needless to say, I didn’t enjoy the holidays that much this year.  Better luck next year.  We have however been fighting less since that time and some hope has been restored.

On New Years day we went to the coast and enjoyed a sunny New Year on the coast.

Lets see… I have been rapidly running out of money and I had to uninsure my car (seeing as how there is no money coming in and next to no jobs to even apply for).

A few days later it became my birthday.  Yep, I totally feel like I’m getting old.  The better part of my 20’s are now behind me.  Yet I find myself looking for a job.  I never thought I would be at this intersection at this time in my life.  My birthday was rather low key – until about mid-day when I was on my laptop and it did this surge thing.  Ut oh.  It turned off and then would not restart.  I did some troubleshooting with some various sites online and determined that the issue was my motherboard.

My motherboard goes out? on my birthday.  Lovely.  Ah well, life goes on.  But wait, now I have no car- and no way to apply for jobs.  So for now, I have to borrow a laptop to apply for jobs or check email or anything really.  I suppose it could be worse.  I’m just ready for things to start improving.

That is kind of the update.  I have been applying at various things like positions dealing with billing, technical service, banker jobs and even retail positions.  The one variable I think that could be hindering me, is that I am not looking for a call center job.  I don’t mind being on the phone from time to time.  At my last job it was a natural part of the job.  However in saying that I also don’t want to be trapped on the phone all day.  It isn’t a good fit for me.

My work over at 2nine studios has been slow going since my computer died.  Things should be picking up soon as I am looking in to the possibility of getting another laptop and biting the bullet with my savings.  Tough times call for tough measures.

Tonight is the state of the union address.  I want to hear Obama talk about jobs and nothing more.  The american economy is kind of screwed up in the fact that our economy sucks and yet our stocks (which has always been an indicator of how things are going) are soaring to new levels for the first time in years.  Things aren’t how they seem.  Instead of talking about improving the economy (aka stocks) I hope that he provides solutions to the job market.  I will be looking for real solutions to real problems.

Yet I know at the end of the day he will give some mumbo jumbo speech about how things are improving.  How the quality of jobs will be improving and how despite more cuts that we will see in the coming days that things really are improving.  That is what the american public has been fed for the past 2 years.. why would that stop with this administration?  Exactly, it wouldn’t.

Thats all I’ve got so until next time…