Here's To A "Spiffy" New Year

2010 has not been a fantastic year for me. It has also not been a terrible year for me. A FaceBook friend said 2011 was going to be "spiffy" so I plan to make sure that it is. (is there a resolution in there somewhere?)

My blogging in 2010 was considerably less than previous years but, surprisingly, I find myself with several ideas and updates running through my head as the new year dawns. I will present them in no particular order since each one finds its way to the front of the line in random and recurring order. Some will be, I hope, eloquent and profound. Others will be random and scattered. Most will probably be the latter.

I will start with my wrist.

Now, see, the job just jumped to the front of the line. It will have to wait since I already mentioned my wrist. I only mention it now to ensure that I come back and give it its turn.

I have had minor problems with my wrists for the last 3-4 years. I'm pretty sure it is the beginnings of Carpal Tunnel or some other repetitive motion injury. It has never been bad enough to go to the doctor and usually only lasts a couple of days.

Shortly after starting the new job I ran down the battery in my car. Someone came along and helped me out with a jump start but I had to push the car out of the parking space so we could access both batteries. After that, my right wrist started hurting bad enough and long enough that I went and bought a wrist brace. I wore it, iced my wrist and took Aleve for about a week and everything settled down.

This week my wrist started hurting again. A lot. I'm wearing the brace again but I really need to get an ergonomic keyboard at work (more on that later - maybe). I think typing on the iPad aggravated it. I will also mention it to my doctor when I see him on Tuesday.

Now for the job. I have read the company social media policy and can, in fact, tell you I am working as an Enterprise Technical Support Analyst for Dell in Oklahoma City. I do phone support for tape backup units of all shapes and sizes. I must, however, tell you that the statements I make and opinions I express do not necessarily reflect those of my employer and the statements and opinions expressed by my employer do not necessarily reflect my own. As a friend of mine puts it: I do not speak for Dell and Dell does not speak for me.

I have been taking calls for about a month now. A lot of it is coming back to me. I sometimes get frustrated when something comes up that I have seen before or that I used to know and can't bring to mind the solution. As predicted, the most difficulty has been in (re-)learning procedures and using the new case management software. I am becoming more proficient every day.

The toughest part has to be the sales tool. technicians are now allowed to prepare quotes for and sell spare parts, warranty extensions, etc. Pretty much anything without a service tag. It's a good idea because I can now give out of warranty customers an answer to the question, "How much is that going to cost?" The problem is a) I am not a sales person and b) It doesn't come up very often. We are encouraged to do a bit of suggestive selling (i.e. I see your warranty is due to expire next month. Would you like me to help you with a warranty extension?) but we're not allowed to push. No means no. The good part is if we prepare a quote and the customer purchases off that quote we get the credit and the commission. The bad part is there is a reason I'm not in sales. Nobody has asked me to make a quota so I'm good with it. I like having the ability to help them all the way through the process.

I'm still loving the iPad. It is sort-of like a giant iPod touch but with more cowbell. I have paid for a couple of apps (one of them being a remote desktop app called SplashTop Remote) and have been hording free apps and paid apps that are temporarily free just like I did do with my iPhone.

The iPad has 3G capability so I can use the cellular network when WiFi isn't available. The problem is that since AT&T dropped their unlimited data plans across the board, I'm afraid to use that functionality for fear of getting raped on data usage charges going over my allotment. An iPad can eat up 250MB easily. I used 352MB on my iPhone last month (thank goodness they grandfathered my unlimited plan) and I don't really use it that much since leaving the last job.

With the iPad I also received a Camera Connection Kit. This is a set of two dongles. One of them has a USB connection on it, the other has an SD card slot. With the USB dongle you can direct-connect your digital camera or your iPhone and the SD slot is self-explanatory. Whichever way you go, the iPad automatically launches a built-in transfer app that allows you to transfer all the photos or to select specific photos to transfer. It is not without its limitations. When connecting the iPhone it will only pick up photos from the camera roll. It does not see any in the photo albums. (this also means that the dongle does not add a functional USB port to the iPad unless you know something I don't) When using the SD card the card apparently has to be formatted from a camera. The iPad does not react if you insert a card full of JPG files. Yet another Apple limitation that seems to have no rhyme or reason.

Speaking of the iPad (still), I have been on the hunt for an iPad case since I got it. When the wife bought hers she also bought one of the Apple cases. We then headed to Radio Shack where she bought a nice leather folio bundled with some other accessories. She used the leather folio for about a day then went back to the Apple case. I have been using the leather folio. This leather folio is actually quite nice. I can't tell you if it's genuine or synthetic leather but it is padded and well constructed. The inside has slots for papers, cards and other small, flat items. There is a leather tab/strap that slides into a slot to keep it closed.

There are a few reasons I have been looking for another case. First, this case does not function well as a stand. I use/wanted the iPad primarily to watch movies on my lunch break and propping it up, even with the strap inserted, I am constantly concerned about it tipping over forward or backward. There is also no "typing angle" available. Second is the way the iPad is held in. It is held in securely but not functionally. On the bottom are two formed, leather corner pieces. The right one partially covers the speaker but doesn't seem to affect the sound. The top is held in with two elastic straps.

From a manufacturing standpoint elastic straps are cheap, functional and easy to install/use. The problem is that they block key parts of the iPad. They always do, it's not just this case. The left strap all but covers the headphone jack and does cover the microphone. It can be pushed out of the way for headphone insertion but shouldn't need to be. The right strap covers the power button which is not a big deal since it can easily be actuated without moving the strap. The right strap also covers the mute switch (formerly the rotation lock switch). The strap has to be removed then replaced to actuate the switch. Sorry, this one's the deal breaker.

At first I thought I just wanted a leather version of the Apple case. These are plentiful on eBay in a variety of colors. Then I discovered something. If I'm sitting in my car (stationary, of course), I can fold the cover back over the top of my steering wheel and secure it in place using the leather strap. Connect it to the AUX audio input on my radio and I have in-car theater! (the photo also demonstrates the full reflective nature of the iPad screen)

This development necessitated a modification of my criteria. My new case needed to be leather, preferably padded, it could not use elastic straps to secure the device, it needed to have the capability to operate as a vertical stand as well as a typing stand, and it needed a closure of some sort to allow me to wheel-mount the iPad. You would think that wouldn't be hard to find. You would be wrong.

Some are WAY overpriced. Some are fun but don't fit the criteria. Some downright suck. Most don't make the cut because of stability issues when using as a stand, cheap materials, or poor quality control. I looked on Amazon. I looked on eBay. I read reviews. I just couldn't make a decision on one that would be right for me without going to the iPad Case Store and touching each one and examining the quality. Unfortunately, there is no iPad Case Store.

In the end, I pulled the trigger on a unit on eBay for $12.00. I figure that way I can see how well the design works for me but I'm not out much if the quality is lacking.

Okay... what else... Ah, Christmas in general.

On Christmas Eve we met my wife's side of the family for our traditional Christmas Eve Dinner at the Olive Garden. This tradition grew out of a desire not to spend my father-in-law's birthday (December 24) alone after his passing. For the last 5 years it has been a fun time of feasting, conversation and remembrance. There has been a lot of controversy on that side of the family over the last year but it was all put aside for the gathering.

On Christmas Day we drove to Kansas City to be with my family. From there we all went to St. Joseph, MO to my niece's house for Christmas Dinner. There was lots of laughter and loudness - just like it should be. It's always good to see my nephews as well. Each one of them thinks very differently from most people and their thoughts and interactions are often amusing to behold.

I, of course, brought my camera and took several pictures - including some group portraits. Using the Camera Connection Kit I uploaded them to my iPad and started showing people pictures of themselves. In short order someone else was holding my iPad with several others gathered around looking at all of the pictures. It was really cool to see.

Well, I've been sitting here for a couple of hours working on this and I think I (and you) have had quite enough. Here's wishing 2011 is as "spiffy" for you as I plan on mine being.

Birthday Review

I had a really good birthday on Tuesday. It's one of the best I've had in years. I didn't get much in the way of gifts but that's not what made it special.

I got into the office and almost everyone was already there. They all joyously said "happy birthday" then one of them began to sing. It was cheesy but they all joined in. It was good to start the day with a smile.

After a few minutes (time for me to get my computer fired up), I'm told there is a "laptop" I need to look at. I suppose you could classify a mixed box of Krispy Kreme donuts as a laptop. Yum.

Later, I looked up at our in/out board and noticed somebody had written "HAPPY BIRTHDAY Joe!!" all the way across next to my name. As one of my techs was heading out to fix something, she drew a birthday cake. Other than that, it was a quiet day and I was able to get a few things out of the way.

To top it all off, I received maybe 30 happy birthday wishes on Facebook. All of this made it like a day-long virtual party. It was fantastic.

That evening, the wife an I went out to Chili's for dinner but not before making a stop so I could spend some of the birthday money my mother had given me. I went to the local Staples and bought a Wacom Bamboo Pen tablet. Imagine a big touch pad off a laptop only it uses a pen instead of your finger. These devices are quite handy for photo editing and other digital graphic arts. Wacom has been making them for years and years and they're very good at it. So good, in fact, that many tablet computers have digitizers (the part that lets you write on the screen) made by Wacom.

I didn't have much time to play with it Tuesday but I worked with it some last night. It didn't take me long to get used to it and it is definitely better than a mouse for photo touch-ups. It also makes ticking several check boxes in Gmail much easier. I may have a full review later if I can pull myself away from it long enough.

In Case You're Not Interested

It took me 3 days to write the Zune HD review. It will probably take most people that long to read it. For those of you who care as much about my review as the current futures market for jelly donuts, I present to you this post.

Last night I went to the wedding celebration for my friend who got married in Wyoming. There were a lot of people there I didn't know and the hosts, not surprisingly, weren't long on introductions.

I suck at remembering names. I know, that's a cheap excuse but, for some reason, when I'm meeting people I go into information overload mode. What was really bad was someone I was introduced to eraly in the evening remembered my name and, as he was leaving, said, "It was nice meeting you, Joe." I barely remembered that he was at the gathering much less his name.

Because my job involves a lot of faculty, staff and students I have been trying harder to use those mnemonic devices to remember names but I really have to make a conscious effort to do that. This job has made me do a lot of think-shifting in a lot of different areas. There are some days when I think I'm starting to get a handle on it then about 5 minutes later I feel like I have no clue. My years of experience are only helping superficially because my experience has gone counter to the way many functions work in this job.

Sorry. Didn't mean to do an emotional brain dump on you but, hey, it's more interesting than a long-winded technology review.

Unexpected Gifts

There is a store here in Stillwater called Wall's Bargain Center that sells closeout merchandise at discount prices. It's a little like Big Lots but they tend to buy stock from stores that are closing, going out of business, had fires, etc. more than "the manufacturer changed the box design" type stuff.

I got word from one of the students at work that Wall's had recently acquired a large batch of inventory from a Best Buy that had experienced an extreme heat incident with rapid incandescent oxidation and gaseous residue followed by liquid deterrent application (a fire). Said student had picked up a new Dell computer and a flat screen monitor for under $500. It wasn't a fantastic discount but it was a good price nonetheless.

I decided Friday night that I wanted to go see what they had and just how good the discounts might be. I entered the section where they had concentrated the stock and began to drool look around. I saw many shiny things and lots of blinking black boxes but they were all beyond my price range. Wall's was only offering a 25% discount (which ain't bad, really) but was using the original Best Buy pricing as a baseline which is inflated anyway (i.e. a weather radio you can buy @ WM for $29.99 marked at $39.99). Many of the objects were originally over $200 so I stuck my hands in my pockets and continued to drool profusely "window shop."

The wife, who has been wanting a digital SLR for a couple of years now, wandered over to the display case filled with cameras and camcorders. She had spied some Canon Digital Rebel models but even with the discount they would end up over $500 (except for one but we ruled it out since it didn't have a box). As I was scanning the various camcorders available I saw a Sony Digital Alpha tucked unobtrusively in the back of the case. If you didn't know what it was, it would be easy to overlook. Heck, I knew what it was and almost overlooked it myself.

It was a Sony Alpha DSLR-230L with an 18-55mm zoom lens. The price written on the side was $549.99. With discount and after tax, we figured it would cost about $450.00. The wife asked to see it and looked at the specs on the side of the box. She took the body out of the package to see how it felt and to examine all the buttons and ports. She was suitably enamoured with it and we considered buying it since her birthday is a week from Tuesday. In the end, we decided to sleep on it. First, we didn't know much about the camera itself (the best I could come up with via my smartphone was that it was released last May). Second, we didn't know where the money was going to come from. We could fudge $450 but it wouldn't be a wise thing to do.

After dinner, we both retired to our respective computers and began researching the Alpha 230. The first thing I figured out was that current selling price is $499.99 (via Best Buy, Amazon and Sony). The wife read the reviews on Amazon and felt the camera would be a good fit for her. At that point, I put into action a plan I had hatched on the way home from the store.

First, I called my mother. I explained the situation to her and asked if she would be willing to contribute $100 (or more if she wanted to) toward the Wife's birthday gift. She thought that was a splendid idea. [Side note: Mom informed me that my brother had won $2,200 at the riverboat casino... on a penny slot machine. Of course, he was playing a dollar a spin (the bonus came up all wild). I never win that much because I never risk that much.]

Next, I called her mother. I again explained the situation and she agreed to contribute $150 to the cause. We were now going to be responsible for less than half the cost of the camera (an amount we could justify without too much guilt) and had current cash on hand to float what was being covered by The Moms. Because of the nature of the business and there being only one on hand, I told the wife about the contributions, said "happy birthday" and we agreed to go to the store as they opened on Saturday to give the camera a final inspection and purchase it if it passed muster.

We got to the store and went straight to the display case with the cameras. The same lady who had helped us at closing time on Friday was in the general vicinity and came around to greet us, "You came back for the Sony, didn't you?"

The wife opened the box and removed all of the contents to take inventory. Everything was present except for the battery which we quickly located as being installed in the camera. We agreed to purchase it and the attendant filled out some paperwork for the 30-day store return warranty. We then found a suitable bag (that we later discovered was too small for more than one reason) and checked out. The camera came out to $449 and some change. With the bag, we walked out about $468.00 lighter and one camera heavier than when we walked in.

But wait, there's more.

The wife charged the battery and fiddled with the camera some to get a feel for it. I had been wanting to go to the fair in Oklahoma City all day so I struck out on my own. After visiting the ATM and grabbing a bottle of water at the gas station it was almost 3pm. I was driving toward the highway when a prominently displayed garage sale sign caught my eye. The street it pointed to only has 3 or 4 houses so if it was still going on it would be obvious. although it had been picked over quite well, they were still open for business so I dropped by.

There really wasn't much left. What they had most of was bundles and pieces of fabric they had bought for their sewing business but ended up with too much inventory and not enough time. I wandered into the garage itself and spied upon a box for a Minolta Maxxum film camera. The Sony takes the same lens mount as the Minolta. The kit had a 35-80mm zoom lens with it. It was a cheap lens. It even felt cheap. Almost every bit of it was plastic except for the optics. But it was a different lens than the one that came with the camera.

"How much?" I asked. "We were asking $40 but we're trying to get everything gone so we're doing half price. $20"

I texted the wife: Do you want a 35-80mm Maxxum kit lens for $20?

Without hesitation, the answer came back a simple "yes." I bought it but it meant that the camera bag which barely fit the camera if she took the lens off was no longer suitable.

So, in the span of a day, we had managed to get the wife a new camera with a kit lens, a bag that was now too small, and a second lens for a very reasonable price. It was a happy early birthday for her.

Taking A Shot

Last night, I attended a bachelor party for a friend who shall remain nameless because, really, he is innocent until proven guilty. But this isn't about him anyway.

I was not planning on getting trashed (I actually ended up as D.D.) but I did plan to toast the groom at least once. When I arrived at his house, the "bartender" poured him a Screaming Nazi (equal parts Rumple Minze and Jagermeister) and, since I hate licorice flavors, made for me a Fire & Ice ("equal" parts Rumple Minze and Hot Damn cinnamon schnapps). I said congratulations and cheers to the groom and we knocked back our shots.

The libation poured in well enough but quickly became the alcoholic equivalent of napalm in my mouth. It wasn't the alcohol, it was the cinnamon flavor. I quickly swallowed in order to get it down but could only manage half of it before my esophagus clamped down to staunch the flow of liquid that had just peeled about three layers of skin off the back of my throat.

At this point I was unable to determine if I had swallowed or aspirated what I had managed to push down but knew I had to take some action. Instinct took over and my mouth said "SPIT IT OUT!!!! IT BURNS! IT BURNS!" but the brain overruled Instinct, having noticed that the sink was on the other side of the counter and was refusing to look like a pansy in front of friends who would most definitely give me shit about it for the rest of my life, and said, "Nope. We have to swallow."

Well, now, I was in a quandary. Instinct is saying to the brain, "Are you NUTS!?" To which the brain replied, "Not at all, you know I'm right." Without hesitation my tongue interjected screaming, "JUST SWALLOW THE DAMNED THING AND MAKE THE FIRE GO AWAY!!!!" and told my eyes, in no uncertain terms, that it was at this point they should start crying. A command, I am glad to say, I was successfully able to resist by completing the ingestion of Satan's Hellfire. A feat that was no less difficult than... well... I can't think of anything that compares. Let's just say it was a highly forced reaction that had to shove Instinct to the ground and beat him to a bloody pulp before it could be accomplished.

Awareness was starting to return to the rest of my body. My eyes opened, my hand realized it was still holding the shot glass and put it down on the counter, my throat burned, and my lungs quickly and urgently notified the rest of my body that they were no longer exchanging that wonderful life-giving element that is oxygen. Brain kicked in saying, "OH SHIT! OH SHIT!" in a panicked state, followed quickly by, "BREEEEEAAAAATHE!!"

It was then that Brain realized that it had just kicked the ever-living crap out of Instinct, thus rendering the lungs unable to perform their basic function. Brain rushed over, performed some quick CPR on Instinct and injected him with 10 cc's of Sodium Whamalamitol, bringing Instinct rapidly back to consciousness. "We have to breathe," said Brain. "I think I know how to do that," responded Instinct. "Then do it, man, DO IT!" But although Instinct was conscious, he was not quite aware yet and had to ask, "In or out?"

Brain jumped into action. He rushed over to the lungs. "In or out guys? Come on, stay with me!" The lungs were beginning to weaken and weren't lucid enough themselves to tell. Sensing the urgency, Brain yelled back to Instinct, "PICK ONE! JUST MAKE IT HAPPEN!"

It was at this point, approximately 3.2 seconds after swallowing the last of the shot, that I drew my first, ragged breath. I seriously had to make it happen. The lungs had perked up but were still having difficulty and had to ask Instinct, "What now?" A question to which Instinct had to place a bit of thought into answering, having recently received a concussion. "Out. Yeah, out. that's it."

The lungs complied but it was almost as difficult to push the air out as it was to draw it in. It took a few more breaths before things were starting to return to any semblance of normal. Once I was finally able to draw an unrestricted breath, the first words out of my mouth were, "Never again."

Milestones

I use Statcounter for my web statistics. It gives me basic information plus a few cool extras (keword activity, for instance), it is independent of my web host, and it's free. I was checking it this evening and saw that my wav archive had gotten over one million page loads since I started monitoring it.

Then, as I was preparing to post this news that is exciting, perhaps, only to me, I saw that I had posted 699 entries to this here blog of mine which means this is blog post #700.

Now, if I can just get that podcast off the ground...

Wedding Pics

I'm not supposed to blog at work so I'm sneakin' one in. If you want to see some of the pics from the wedding, check them out here.

It's just a raw dump. I haven't edited anything yet so the color and lighting is highly variable.

Still Troubled

I don't get it. I swapped out the data cable and now the system boots as quickly as it ever did. The secondary drive shows up correctly as a new volume. But try to actually DO anything and she'll freeze. Not right away, but she will eventually.

Here's the kicker. After writing zeros to the drive, re-initializing it in Windows and performing a complete format (and swapping out the data cable), I used the WD Data Lifeguard tools to perform a full scan on the drive. Yes, the same full scan that told me the drive was going bad about two months ago. Guess what it told me this time... the drive is fine. No errors. So, why won't the two drives play well together?

I was heading up to KC for my niece's wedding so I unplugged the spare drive for now.

There wasn't too much chaos when we arrived yesterday afternoon. My mother and sister were working on the flowers (my sister has some floral experience and agreed to do the flowers - what was she thinking?) and mom would later assemble the groom's cake, complete with John Deere tractor. My brother (the niece's dad) and the boys (her brothers) were all at the rehearsal and didn't return until after we all went to bed.

Right now, it's snowing in Kansas City. It's pretty cool, especially since it doesn't appear to be sticking to the roads. It should make for an interesting wedding. Precipitation on your wedding day is supposed to be good luck - was for me.

Before I ramble on too long, I'll close this chapter.

Family Time

My niece is getting married on March 15. Shortly after they set the date, she called me and asked me to be her photographer. I was flattered, intrigued by the challenge, and a little nervous. And I said yes.

I don't do portrait photography. I don't generally photograph people. The largest body of my work is animals, landscapes and a little bit of abstract thrown in for good measure. But my niece asked me because she knew I liked photography, thought I would enjoy it, and saw a few advantages in having a family member shoot the wedding.

The first thing I did was join a few photography forums on Yahoo and start scouring the internet for tips and information. I posted my questions to the forums and downloaded information and shot lists from the web sites. I received a variety of information telling me I would enjoy it, I would hate it, it shouldn't be a problem, I didn't need any fancy equipment, it's too much work, and one who told me to do myself a favor and hire a professional for them as a wedding gift. While this last was a good thought, it was out of my price range.

Once I had gathered this mass of data, life got in the way - as it often will - and I had to put it aside for a while. This weekend I bought a book on posing techniques (my real weak spot in portrait photography) and started reading it. As I got into the book, I started gaining confidence that I would be able to actually pull this off. Mind you, posing is one of those talents that takes a short time to learn and a long time to master - I had no illusions about that - but with my current level of photographic knowledge, I could probably do a right fair job of it.

Then I started looking at the shot lists. Some were simple, others were detailed. I began work on combining them all into my own list with the basics (i.e. the kiss, bride and mother, groom and father, etc.) and the cool-but-not-on-everyone's-list shots (i.e. bride looking out window). As I got to the ceremony shots, I realized something quite profound. Two somethings, really. First, there are a LOT of pictures that get taken at a wedding - this was going to be real work. Second, in order to get some of the shots, I would either have to be two places at once, moving around a lot (a potential distraction), relying on the good graces of one of my photographically inclined friends to assist me, or having to decide between one shot or the other. That's when I decided to call my niece.

You see, I realized that if I were going to do the photography portion of the wedding any justice at all, I was going to have to recuse myself from being an attendee. That meant that I would be missing out on time with my family, meeting the groom's family, actually enjoying the ceremony itself, and quite possibly wedding cake (which concerned me most). So this evening I called my niece and discussed the situation with her. It turns out, she had been talking with her dad, my brother, about the situation and had come to some of the same conclusions as well as a realization I now shared - If I'm taking all of the pictures, I'm not going to be IN any of the pictures.

With that, we agreed that it would be better for me to attend the wedding rather than work the wedding. Given that the ceremony is exactly two months away, I intend to keep studying technique (if for nothing else so that I can understand what the photographer is doing and take some mental notes) and I told my niece that if it was too short notice for her to find a photographer or something else went completely pear shaped, I would still be ready and willing.

Choices

As 2007 draws to a close it would be easy to look back upon the year and toast it good riddance on the last day. 2007 was replete with a litany of top stressors. Being fired from a job, a major interstate move, financial difficulties, more than sixty job applications with less than 0.5% application to interview ratio, major illness, unexpected loss of a beloved pet, a second major interstate move, more financial difficulties, taking on a significant daily commute, and working at a job just for the paycheck but not really enjoying the work. Yes, it would be easy to spit in the eye of Father Time for 2007 and tell him and his bad karma to visit no more.

But rather than look back and lament my position, I choose, instead, to keep my eyes forward. I will focus on improving my position and gaining knowledge. I will be thankful that I am comfortable, safe and happy where I live. I will remember those who are gone with fondness and not sorrow*. I will keep my mind and my senses open to new possibilities. I will persevere.

So join me, friends, at 23:59:59 on December 31, 2007 and drink a toast to the future as we close the book on the past and let the sorrows and difficulties wash away.


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* When I start feeling sad about JD, I think about how his whole body used to wiggle when he asked to go outside. It always made me laugh and brings a smile to my face to remember it.

OOOOOOOOOklahoma Where The Wind Comes Sweeping Down The Plains!

Today is Statehood Day in Oklahoma and we're celebrating 100 years of greatness! I am very proud of my state and very happy to be living here again.