Sunday, November 30, 2008, 10:48 AM - Dumb Happenings
Indigo Incarnates
If you're ever wondering how long it takes to do a complete reformat/reinstall of Vista after an unrecoverable system failure, I can now tell you. The answer is FOURTEEN HOURS. That's right, boys and girls: it took fourteen hours of automated machination between the time I put the Recovery disc in the drive and the time that I was able to select an adminiatrator password. Wow. On Windows 2000 or Windows XP, I could reasonably do a reformat/reinstall in 90 minutes or so. The Vista recovery process literally ran all night and finally finished up when I was drinking my first cup of coffee the next morning.
It's bad enough that the operating system crashed my Blackberry this weekend, but with the Windows OS failing later that same day, I no longer have my contacts and email backed up for that device. that means i'm going to have to manually repopulate the replacement phone by hand when it arrives next week. What a friggin' drag.
Fourteen hours for a system recovery. I just find that unacceptable.
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( 3 / 1813 )Saturday, November 29, 2008, 09:36 AM - Church Stuff
Indigo Incarnates
Well, you all might remember how proud I was that I transformed my Wicca group's rudimentary Yahoo Groups page into a website, right? My intention in doing so really was benign. I don't have much in the way of money to donate to my religious practice, nor am I a particularly experienced or powerful Wiccan practitioner. But I am good at making basic non-commercial web sites. I also wanted to register the domain name before it was grabbed up by somebody else. I thought it was going to be nice if everyone in the group had a domain email instead of a cobbled-together collection of Yahoo and Hotmail accounts. My intent was for something really positive for the group.
It's just a shame that it wasn't recieved that way.
Basically, my efforts were recieves as an attempted usurpation of leadership authority. My efforts were viewed with shock and distress. I was told to never, ever do it again. I'm basically persona non-gratis at my group for a while. I guess I'll know in a few months if they want me back. I asked the priestess if she would be willing to put it up for a vote in a few months if I can be welcomed back. I guess I'll know what she thinks if/when she responds to my email.
So, I took down the website last night.
I had wanted positive things to come from my effots. But, as usual, every time I try to do something good, it blows up in my face. I really am a loser.
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( 2.9 / 1614 )Friday, November 28, 2008, 10:16 PM
Indigo Incarnates
Well, you all may recall that I'm no fan of Vista. After all, it takes up 80 Gb of hard drive space and makes a 2.2 GHz DuoCore run like a 900 MHz Celeron. What's not to like?
Well... today it managed to utterly destroy my brand-new Blackberry Curve. How did it accomplish this feat? Lemme tell ya...
The problem started when the "changeling effect" caused my Blackberry to start acting funky. So I called T-Mobile to push the configuration settings into the phone (you'd be surprised how often I have to make that call!) So the technician also told me that there was a firmware update for the phone that might make it act more stable. Well... for a human, it probably would. Ha ha.
Anyway, I downloaded the software and connected the Blackberry to the computer for the reflash. All was going well until the reflash application crashed. Thanks a lot, Vista! So, apparently the reflash was interrupted just after the phone's operating system but before it could install the new one. So now the phone won't even power up!
I called T-Mobile back and they said that the flash ROM has been destroyed. Nice. So I had to make a warranty claim. Now I will be without my phone for nine days.
Man, Vista so utterly and completely sucks!
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( 3 / 868 )Wednesday, November 26, 2008, 04:16 PM
Indigo Incarnates
I have to tell ya: I'm feeling a distinct lack of holiday enthusiasm this past week. Our finances are really tight (because we had to get a new car a few months ago when the old one died). I'm on pins-and-needles over being in "fire at will" status as a result of being recently promoted (I love the job, but I won't have any job security until I'm off probationary status). My mom's health continues to deteriorate. My sister is still acting like a teen-age slut (despite being 36 years old) and she's neglecting her daughter's health. Uncle Jimmy probably can't wait for mom to die so that he can rent the house out at a higher rate. Doug's sister's health took a huge turn for the worse (her lung cancer has metastasized) and I doubt there's anything that can be done at this point. Doug's beside himself with worry over his sister and mom. My uncle Blake decided that Doug and I weren't worth inviting over for Thanksgiving this year (he does that some years).
So... I'm just not feeling the mood of the season.
I will say what I'm thankful for, however: I am thankful that Doug is my partner (for almost ten years now). I'm thankful that I have a meaningful faith. I'm thankful that I feel loved when I pray to the Goddess. I'm thankful that we bought the Scion xD before the credit markets dried up (we wouldn't be able to get one if we had applied now). I'm thankful that I am so welcome at Turning Circle (my Wicca group). I'm thankful for my friends Java, Joan, and Iris. I'm thankful for getting a promotion at work. I'm glad that the Sara Palin hate machine didn't win this month. I'm thankful that my mom has a meaningful faith too, which is a comfort to her in this difficult time. I'm thankful that George Bush is leaving office soon. I'm glad that I didn't get shanked last week on community visits. Blessed be!
To all of you that celebrate Thanksgiving... well... Happy Thanksgiving!
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( 3 / 1128 )Sunday, November 23, 2008, 03:09 PM - Church Stuff
Indigo Incarnates
So... it occurred to me that my Wicca group (Turning Circle) doesn't actually have a web site. All we have is a group page on Yahoo. Well, I did some digging and discovered that I am entitled to a free web hosting service as a side-benefit of having a Windows Live account (hey, considering how much Microsoft charges for everything else, we ought to get something for free!) So I threw together a site at www.turningcircle.org that shows the basics of what Turning Circle is all about. It's got driving directions, our mission statement, and the calendar of upcoming events. I'm no hand-coding hacker-genius, but at least we have an actual domain and an actual web site now. Yay!
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( 3 / 1427 )Friday, November 21, 2008, 05:44 PM
Indigo Incarnates
I got my score today that was based on the first 90 days of being a Case Agent. I needed a 1.75 on a 4-point scale to get a grade of "Meets Standards". I got a 1.85 score. So... I passed by the skin of my teeth, hee hee! Of course, I haven't been doing this job very long either. I'm also happy that the boss didn't factor in re-arrest yet, since that would have taken my score down. But I figure that by the six-month review, I'll be good enough at case management that my record keeping abilities will offset the hit I'm going to take on re-arrests.
Why do I think I'll have a problem with defendants getting re-arrested too often? Well, it's mainly because the bulk of my caseload involves supervising people charged with misdemeanor drug offenses. When someone is an addict, they're bound to buy more drugs. It's just a fact. And since it's illegal to buy heroin, cocaine, and marijuana, the people under my supervision get arrested... a lot.
Of course, there are plenty of programs that help out with opiate dependence. However, the defendant has to want to kick the habit. Unfortunately, a lot of them simply don't want to get clean badly enough to make it happen. It's really kinda sad. It's not a life I'd want to live.
If I can keep getting a passing score for the rest of my probationary period, my job should be pretty secure. That will be a good thing, considering that Bushonomics has basically triggered the Second Great Depression. And when the economy goes downhill, it makes crime go up. And when crime goes up, there's a need for criminal justice professionals.
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( 3.1 / 992 )Thursday, November 20, 2008, 08:02 PM
Indigo Incarnates
Call me crazy, but I always thought being a vegetarian meant never getting an upset stomach. Well, that's apparently not the case! Wow... My stomach was churning until nearly 2:00pm.
I was disappointed that none of the cases I had that went to court actually closed out. I don't know why these penny-ante misdemeanor cases get put off until later. Urrrgg!
Did I mention how the Community Supervision went yesterday? Although *I* think I'm a pretty good driver, there are darned few who would agree with me. Well, to complicate matters, the Pretrial vehicle is a gigantic SUV that is the biggest thing I drove in years. My coworker put up with that for about an hour before she said "I can't take it anymore! Pull over: I'm driving!" Heh heh. Well, there's a reason why I drive a Scion xD: it's tiny. I didn't wreck the Durange -- only came close four times, heh heh.
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( 3 / 954 )Wednesday, November 19, 2008, 09:45 PM - halo's thoughts
halo incarnates
hate myself. hate failing. hate being a shadow-thing. blood pays for sins. hate myself. hate that skinny mom is sick. can't fix her. am tired. really tired.
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( 2.9 / 1465 )Monday, November 17, 2008, 07:23 PM - Random Thoughts
Indigo Incarnates
Well, my web hosting service has been down for two days, so I had no email access and my website was down. Oh well. It sucked. But I make backups of everything that I can make backups of.
The changeling effect burned out yet another cell phone this past week. The "changeling effect" is the effect I cause on electronics when I get emotionally agitated. If I'm really angry or really upset (usually rage, not sorrow does this), electronics tend to burn out. That's why it's no use wearing a watch. So I was really pissed off about Prop-8 and I was pissed off about my loathsome uncle, and I was talking on the phone with Java and the phone went "zzt...pzzzt.. zzt..." and that was it for the phone.
It's not the first time this has happened.
I also can't seem to keep a wireless router working or compact fluorescent tubes. Or MP3 players.
Oh... Carol wanted to know some of our favorite songs:
Indigo: "In Your Eyes", Peter Gabriel. (the live version from Secret World)
Thistle: "Platform Cloud", Flowchart.
Halo: "The Celebration of the Lizard", The Doors
Ashen: "Dirty Deeds Done Dirt Cheap", AC/DC
Willow: "Oro", Morira
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( 3 / 1414 )Saturday, November 15, 2008, 08:57 AM - Church Stuff
Indigo Incarnates
Well, you all may vaguely remember a few months ago that I accidentally volunteered to lead a worship service at Turning Circle (my Wicca group). Since I had three months to design the service, I had plenty of time to really refine what I was going to say. And I wrote the most awesome Quarter Calls (yeah, I'm humble too). Since it was the full moon and was only two weeks after Samhain, I had the ritual focus on the Goddess as Crone and the Goddess in the fullness of her power (since it was also the full moon).
I was really happy, too, that Doug came. He had never been to a Wiccan ritual before. And lemme tell ya: most of the crap they show on TV that depicts a Pagan service is just that... crap. The other members really made Doug feel welcome too. Wicca doesn't have prejudice against gays and they don't make us grovel or scrape just to receive bare "tolerance". We look at the content of one's character, so black/white, gay/straight, male/female are irrelevant attributes to us. I think Doug was glad that he came.
Of course, no Wiccan service is complete with out goof-ups. We write our rituals from scratch every single time, thus there is no "Wiccan Book of Common Prayer". That makes every service unique and fresh, but the specter of typos is never far away. I had to quickly muddle through the Release of the Spirit of Fire since I copied the wrong Release onto the note card. Then there was the issue of the cigarette lighters that sort of didn't want to light (we did eventually get the candles lit, however). But the Goddess has a sense of humor, so it is alright.
Unlike the Christian church, where people bolt for the door after Communion, Wiccans actually spend time after the service getting to know one another. So everyone brings snacks and drinks along. I brought a fruit salad and apple cider. But there was also some home-made cookies and pumpkin bread. And, of course, the cheese and crackers, chex mix, and other goodies. Yum!!!
Mav, our Priestess, said I can lead the Ostara service next spring. Yay! I am really glad that everyone thought it was a meaningful ritual that brought them joy and also honored the Goddess.
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