Friday, March 10, 2006, 08:06 AM - Dumb Happenings
I already knew that HP had outsourced its Tech Support department to India. What I didn’t know until last night is that they also outsourced their spare parts order centre. The arrangement was so bad that I was unable to order the spare part I needed.
My TabletPC is three years old. It uses a special magnetic pen for input and navigation. Recently, the pen has started to have trouble capturing my handwriting. So, logically enough, I decided that I would order a new pen from the spare parts hotline.
The guy who answered on the other end had a very thick accent that was difficult to understand. When I told him what I needed, he said “That’s impossible! Digitizer pens don’t wear out!”
That’s funny, I thought , no one said that when I did a pen replacement 18 months ago! And it solved the handwriting problem until last month.
Before I could contradict him, he transferred me to Tech Support. This was pointless, since the warranty on my computer expired three months ago. (Which is why I was going to buy a new digitizer pen instead of just asking for one).
So the Tech rep proceeded to transfer me back to sales -- but to the wrong department in that division. The rep there only knew about PDAs, and insisted that there are no electronics in a PDA pen (that is true for a PDA but not for a TabletPC).
So I got transferred again. The next guy insisted that a TabletPC was “corporate” product, not a “retail” product. So I got transferred to corporate sales.
Over at corporate sales, the rep said he didn’t understand how I could own a TabletPC if I wasn’t a corporate customer (answer: I bought it off eBay from a doctor who was using it for business.)
When that rep said he was going to have to transfer me somewhere else, I gave up. This whole process took an hour and I still don’t have my new pen. Well, there’s always eBay.
Gotta love Corporate Outsourcing!
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( 3 / 1450 )Wednesday, March 8, 2006, 05:44 PM - Cool Stuff
My partner and I have been doing well on our respective health plans. Doug is on the Jen-1 Craig diet and has lost 12 pounds in 2 weeks! I have been doing an hour workout at the gym 3x week. I haven't lost weight, but I have slimmed down from 38" waist to a 36". So I guess I'm building muscle and losing fat.
I'm very proud of Doug. Soon, he will be below 300 pounds.I think he might be able to fit on roller coasters then. Yay!
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( 3 / 1328 )Sunday, March 5, 2006, 08:13 PM - Dumb Happenings
Today totally sucked. It all started with my computer getting totally screwed up by Microsoft's latest greatest product: Internet Explorer 7. It didn't work, wouldn't uninstall, and made a lot of *other* things not work too (including System Restore). The long and short of it is that I had to do a complete reformat/reinstall.
Then mom called to complain about how my younger brother is lazy, greedy, and arrogant. He declared yesterday that he was too much of an "artist" to ever have a job. He said that he intends on *never* working.
So of *course* that means that mom is going to cut me out of her will so that Andy will get my inheritance (so he can be an "artist".)
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( 3 / 1137 )Friday, March 3, 2006, 08:15 AM - Stupid Criminals
Lemme tell ya: I *know* what it's like to be poor, desperate, and hungry. But not once in my life have I ever begged. I've worked two jobs, done odd jobs, and sold personal possessions when I've been broke. But I've *never* begged.
The reason I bring this up is that the inner harbor area of Baltimore has become something of a beggar's paradise. On my four-block walk from the parking garage to the courthouse, I get accosted by beggars at least once every day, and sometimes two or three times! They shamble up and make some incoherent entreaty for cash. And they don't want just spare change anymore. They want fivers!
Well, let me tell you about the "plight" of the homeless.l've been working at Pretrial services for three months now and *every* homeless defendant has had these factors in common: they are high school dropouts; they are heroin/cocaine junkies; they have lengthy criminal histories for assault, burglary, and drugs; they have no interest in getting off drugs; they have no interest in seeking employment.
I don't feel sorry for them. I won't give them a penny because I know they'll just use it for smack or blow. These wrecks of humanity just make me sick!
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( 3 / 1249 )Thursday, March 2, 2006, 09:15 PM - Cool Stuff
My partner has been trying to lose weight for the past five years because he is very heavy. I love him very much and his weight problem doesn't bother me, but I have been worried that his obesity will shorten his life.
Well, he's on a pretty comprehensive weight management program with Jenny Craig. After only a week, he lost 4 pounds. He wants to lose 50. So... he's 9% there after only 7 days. That is very, very cool!
I told him that if he loses 50 pounds, he can get a new car. Now, if I can only convince him to buy a hybrid!
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( 3 / 1332 )Wednesday, March 1, 2006, 11:09 AM - Drrruuggsss
My partner's sister is a completely useless leach. I don't use the word "useless" lightly, but I can't think of a better word.
She has apparently started using cocaine *again*. This is the third time she's gotten herself in trouble with dope. It's too bad she never gets an overdose.
The first time she became an addict, it drove my partner's father to suicide. The second time, she blew through her $30,000 inheritance in just 3 months. Lord knows what will happen this time. With dope dealers coming to her home on a regular basis, it just can't end well.
Aside from her dope problem, she uses her so-called disability as an excuse not to work. Her "disabilities" are depression and dyslexia. Gimme a break. I have dyslexia, depression, *and* a dissociative disorder, and I've never been unemployed for more than 48 hours since I was 13.
Her personality is also just plain nasty. She's greedy, cheap, lazy, cruel, hot-headed, violent, jealous, bigoted, and foul of mouth.
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( 3 / 2001 )Tuesday, February 28, 2006, 11:45 AM - nightmares
What I get really tired of is being haunted by someone who's not even dead! I still get nightmares about my father (I won't call him "dad" because that would imply an endearment that does not exist.)
In this dream, my father owned a *huge* mansion. I was some kind of servant in his household. My current task was hauling in the groceries and putting them away. I did so under my father's glowering stare.
One of the items was a bag of expensive mints. I opened the bag and emptied it into a silver bowl he used for holding candy.
Well... my father saw the empty candy bag and accused me of eating all the mints. I pointed at the tray and said, "no, they're in this bowl".
He responded by turning purple with rage and screaming, "You thief! You worthless, fat, son of a bi***"
I tried to explain that I really had just refilled the candy dish, but he wouldn't listen. He followed up with calling me a bastard, a faggot, and stupid. He claimed that I was too stupid to do *anything* right, no matter how simple the task. He screamed that my life would amount to nothing.
I left the mansion in disgrace -- even though I had done nothing wrong.
Outside, it was raining and growing dark. I had the motorcycle I owned back in high school still parked outside. I started it up and found that the headlight had burned out. I didn't care. I drove away in the gloom.
The dream ended.
The thing that sucked is that interactions like that happened in real life ALL THE TIME between my father and I. He would fly into a rage and hurl every demeaning curse he could think of at me. It didn't matter if, later on, it turned out that I was right and he was wrong. He never apologized for a single thing in his life.
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( 3.1 / 1314 )Monday, February 27, 2006, 07:08 PM - Cool Stuff
My website now has illustrations! Check out the "My Alters" section![ add comment ] | [ 0 trackbacks ] | permalink |
( 3 / 1518 )Sunday, February 26, 2006, 12:36 PM - Odd Dreams
Now, I've never been on a real train other than the Metro Light Rail. But last night's dream would certainly inspire me to give it a shot.
I'm not sure where we were actually headed, but the countryside looked sparse and rocky (definitely not Maryland) and the weather was sunny and warm. It had that Middle-of-nowhere look to it. Ashen was with me.
Well, with a screech and a huge cloud of dust, the train's mighty diesel engine failed, and the train ground to a halt. Ashen (dressed in black as always) said that word came down from the front of the train that an observer spotted some highwaymen approaching the train in Jeeps. Dust clouds on the horizon marked their approach. Imagine! A 21st Century train robbery!
It was then that Ashen pulled a huge suitcase from under the seat and opened it. Lo and behold! It was packed full of guns, rifles, and ammo. Yeah, Ashen packs smartly for trips. Ha ha ha!
In a matter of moments, everyone in the last train car had a rifle or handgun. I had a light, 22 cal pump-action rifle (probably because it's only kind of rifle I've shot in real life, heh heh).
The dream ended just as the highwaymen were coming into range. I focused my telescopic site on the helmet of one of the bandits. It was one of those old, green kind from a Military surplus shop. I was about to pull the trigger...
The dream ended. But win or lose, it looked like it was going to be one hell of a shootout!
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( 3.1 / 1516 )Friday, February 24, 2006, 03:30 PM - Dumb Happenings
I work in the 5th floor of a courthouse (as an investigator) and a really odd thing happened today. At 3:22 PM all the windows in the office started vibrating, and a low, stacatto beat played through the air. But wait! This is Maryland, not California! It wasn't an earthquake.
It was somebody's car stereo system running at full blast.
What I have to ask is this: how loudly did this dude have to play his stereo in order to make the windows in a 5th floor office start vibrating? Moreover, how did the sympathetic vibrations *not* tear this guy's car apart?! And if it was loud a block away, five flights up, and indoors, what would it be like to be a passenger in this guy's car?
So... My idea is this: people who go deaf by age 30 because they blast their stereos to 175 decibels should *not* get any subsidies from Medicare for hearing aids! Foooools!!!
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