The Daily Blog

This blog has moved...

2006-05-08T20:48:00.000-07:00

Hey readers... all ... what... 2 of you? My blog has moved. This site will no longer be updated.

Please make a note of it and update your rss readers/links/brains.

http://www.jestertunes.com/ is the new site. Go there. New stuff.... lots of it.

Honesty, Integrity, and Quality. Yeah, Right.

2006-04-27T01:55:00.000-07:00

Customer service. Wow.. there's a concept for you to take in for a moment. Every interaction you have with ANY company, whether it's buying a pack of smokes at a gas station, or purchasing a car, or a home, requires that the employee/manager/cashier/floor person have at least some degree of customer service skill. If you hire people with bad customer service skills, you will soon find your customers going away quite quickly.

I originally intended to relay the story of my hijacked yahoo account, but something more pressing, and quite frankly, unbelievable occurred today.

As I mentioned a couple of weeks ago (ch-ch-changes), I had finally had enough (after 6 years) of the non-response from customer service at Siteturn networks.

I moved all 5 of my domains to a new host provider, Virtuoso Net Solutions. I set up two separate accounts, and spent approximately $300 for a year's worth of hosting. Initially, Virtuoso Net Solutions seemed to be a perfect match for me, they emailed me when a server needed to be rebooted, and I had not had to contact technical support for any issues... that is until last week.

My email server stopped responding for about 8 hours... I went through Virtuoso's online "Help" page to submit a ticket. One of the requested pieces of information on the online form was a "Customer Number" to which they could tie the trouble ticket. I spent roughly 20 minutes looking through my control panel, and on the Virtuoso account home page and discovered no such number. I used '1234' since the form of course required some numerical input in the field.

The trouble ticket was submitted, and roughly 8 hours later the response was: "The server was experiencing issues during a routine backup. All is functional now."

Great. Makes sense.

Then this morning I discover that once again my email server was down, and additionally, I could not log in to my control panel for either account. Virtuoso's 'server status' page listed everything as normal. I decided after 2 hours to submit a help ticket. What follows is an exact play by play account of the correspondence I sent and received.

My initial email submitted via the ticket system:

Greetings,

Both of these domains [mentioned in the subject of the form] are giving 'timeout' errors when trying to connect to the email servers, or logging in to the control panel.

This has been going on for the past 2 hours.

Please advise.

[jesterncal]

Initial response:

From: support@virtuosonetsolutions.com
Date: April 26, 2006 12:47:20 PM PDT

How about copying / pasting the error messages? This would help and is required when submitting tickets such as this.

I feel I need to point out that I received this response via EMAIL... on the account that I was just notifying them was not working... and had not been for over 2 hours... and while I will readily admit that I may have been a bit quick to read attitude into the response, other people who have read this also sense the attitude.

I responded, again via the support ticket system:

How about a little less attitude?

I would have pasted the error message if there were an error message to post. My browser on multiple computers would not connect to the control panel and mail client simply said 'connection timed out'.
Hence why I notified you that I was receiving 'timeout' errors.

Funny enough, the problem has 'magically resolved' itself since I submitted this ticket. Seems the pasted error message wasn't really necessary for the problem to be diagnosed and resolved.

And then it turned strange:

From: support@virtuosonetsolutions.com
Date: April 26, 2006 1:07:27 PM PDT

I highly suggest YOU refrain from your attitude.

"Seems the pasted error message wasn't really necessary for the problem to be diagnosed and resolved"

Your a fool. No one "diagnosed" anything so be silent and dont' assume much. You only make a fool of yourself. If we diagnosed it withou the message we requested, then we would not have asked for the informatin in the first place.

Now because of your low class attitude your account is suspended until you apologize.

Do I really even have to say anything about this? Other than the fact that veins began popping out of my forehead, and my inner queen suddenly began singing "R-E-S-P-E-C-T."

I debated for a while about exactly how I wanted to respond to this email, and decided that I was not going to deal with this lunatic any more than I had to... I thought at first that I should at least try calling and speaking to someone in management at Virtuoso to give the an opportunity to make this right. A call to 631.968.4151 only netted me what sounds like a home answering machine, I left a message asking for the Technical Support Manager in charge to call me back as soon as possible. Since it was beginning to look more and more like this "company" only has one employee, I began backing up all of my files from the server, my wordpress files, and contacted a new host provider, Host Gator, to set up new service.

Then I sent:

Dear Whatever-your-name-is, [funny he never signed his name]

It has become quite apparent that you are most likely a one man operation, since you believe you can speak to your customers with such vehemence... so obviously complaining to your manager will not resolve this issue.

I will have to resolve this the only way I know how. I am a frequent contributor to no less than 10 blogs, including one that has well over a million site visits a week. Additionally, I am quite well connected to a large collective of northern California free-lance web designers who are always looking for a good host provider.

I am currently writing an article detailing the abysmal customer service you have provided me. I will link to Virtuoso Net Solutions' home page, and I will include the phone number and email address. I am making it my personal mission to make sure that by the end of next week, any Google search for your company, will turn up a transcription of this interchange. Customers will stay away from you in droves.

I have two separate hosting accounts setup with your company, [site1] and [site2]. I wish to IMMEDIATELY cancel those accounts, and I am DEMANDING a full refund be issued within 72 hours. Failing to provide the refund will force me to escalate this situation into a civil court matter.

The refund needs to be submitted to:

[my work address]

Have a nice day.
[jesterncal]

Almost immediate response:

From: support@virtuosonetsolutions.com
Date: April 26, 2006 2:54:18 PM PDT

I have forwarded your threat to our corporate lawyer.

This is not a one man operation, but by your numerous assumptions you do just that, assume too many things.

Your threats will cost you for libel and you will be prosecuted for every damage incurred to this company without a doubt.

When that happens, you will find out the operation here and your behavior is the one unacceptable.

This has been forwarded to several authorities and legal team.

"Good luck"

WTF? 'by your numerous assumptions you do just that, assume too many things.' Huh? And I'd like to know, to which "authorities" did this get sent?

*************

Authority: "Hello, New York State Police Department"

VirtuosoGenius: "I'd like to report numerous assumptions and libel threats to my company."

Authority: " ... "

*************

And before I could get another email sent back to him, I received:

From: support@virtuosonetsolutions.com
Date: April 26, 2006 3:01:51 PM PDT

In addition, to show you how foolish you are you submitted an invalid customer number
of "1234". Couldn't possibly be more naive could you?

Now I'm just out to have some fun. I'm already in the process of moving everything over to a new host, and frankly, I was getting excited about just how much fun writing this out would be.

So I sent:

You must be a famous humorist, because this response makes me laugh in a way I haven't laughed in a long time. Thanks!

Great, if it's not a one man operation, I wish to speak directly to your supervisor. I left my number on your corporate sales voice mail.

Just to give you a hand, I shall introduce you to something called the DICTIONARY... (since it is quite apparent from your atrocious grammar and spelling that you are not familiar with one) more specifically, the entry for "libel" :

1 Law a published false statement that is damaging to a person's reputation; a written defamation. Compare with slander .

Just in case you are missing the point, and I'm quite certain that you are, the operative word in that definition is FALSE. Being that I have all the emails directly from you, complete with IP address headers, and being that this interchange actually *DID* take place, there is no argument that I am disclosing false information to the entire world. Additionally, I am expressing my OPINION that you are a pinheaded asshole.

I'm sure whatever 'authorities' you forwarded this to are getting quite a laugh at your expense. I know my friends and colleagues are.

By the way, in response to your 'jab' at my entering '1234' as a customer number, point out where on your website, or my control panel that my customer number can be found, and I'll happily provide it to you.

[jesterncal]

From: support@virtuosonetsolutions.com
Date: April 26, 2006 3:49:09 PM PDT

Thank you. Your response is added to the information passed on to the company lawyer, including your insults and further threats.

In regards to your customer number, its in your original welcome email. Common sense is a great thing.

Any further contact from you will be considered harassment. I suggest you refrain from contacting us again. Your abusive behavior has already cost you time in the court room. Your disbelief will be reversed to belief when the letter arrives in your mail box.

Further threats? Where? Common sense? It's doesn't make any sense to me to require a customer to look up an email from who knows how long ago in order to find a meaningless number just to notify the company that their servers are not working properly.

I for one, can not wait for the letter to arrive in my mail box... and I promise to share it when and if it does arrive.

My next response to this brainiac will be a link to this post... just so he doesn't have to search too hard for it. What I really can't wait to share with you is a tiny piece of information listed on the home page of VirtuosoNetSolutions.com that normally I would have caught immediately... my friend Dan brought it to my attention:

Appropriate Blogging?

2006-04-14T00:20:00.000-07:00

You know... most of my stories aren't exactly good for just everyone's viewing pleasure... for instance my new post over on N2Notes.com about a recent concert that I was lucky enough to attend... is it appropriate to write on my music blog about:

Being so drunk at one point during Stephen Kellogg's set, that I actually *twirled* and *giggled* (damn those manhattans)
Getting a bit irritated at Michael Tolcher when I first approached him for ignoring me and addressing the Bambi next to me. (He redeemed himself shortly after by carrying on an actual conversation with me)
RobinEggBlue making out with a cop from Walnut Creek (how does he DO THAT!?)
Bad Pizza
Did I mention RobinEggBlue made out with a COP from Walnut Creek THAT HE JUST MET!?

Anyway.... it got me thinking... my personal blog isn't as interesting as it should be because I know the only people really reading this are the people I would be talking about... Hi Mom. Hi UMB. Um... there goes any sex discussions... any comments about the trials of a relationship... any rants and raves about exactly what's going on.

How do other people handle this? They just write whatever and let the cards fall where they may? Seems a bit passive agressive to me... I wouldn't want people to think that I was writing about them to get them to change their behavior or to broadcast my anger/love etc to everyone in the world and not directly confront them.

But..

it makes my blog boring.

Hmm...
Much to ponder.

::not solving this problem tonight::

Listen Up!

2006-04-06T23:11:00.000-07:00

So I decided that my music blog needed it's own domain... so with Dan's help today, I set it up, and got the blog running there.. you can check it out here:Listen Up!

Something Awful

2006-04-05T13:15:00.000-07:00

The 250 Billion Dollars we've spent on the "war" in Iraq could have bought so much more...

Something Awful

Music Lives!

2006-04-02T01:27:00.000-08:00

As many of you probably know, I have a pretty serious cd collection... despite having well over 1000 cd's, I routinely raid the local music stores and come home with 10-20 new albums per month. Since I can't find the creative spark to do a personal blog everyday, I've decided to flesh out my desire to write music reviews in this new section on my website.

Also, it could end up being a pretty cool way of making a few extra bucks... if you see something on this page you'd like to buy from Amazon, it will make me some ca$h, and I know you wanna make me some ca$h. :)

I'm gonna try to add a couple of these a day for a while... *crosses fingers*

Enjoy!

Seriously, really, seriously, I'm lame.

2006-03-30T14:36:00.000-08:00

So yeah, I just looked back over my blog and there's really NOTHING of interest here for quite some time. I just got hooked on reading whingingit and shewalks (both have VERY FUNNY stories about last Friday's Total Eclipse gig...(read them here and here) and I am SO jealous of those people who have carved out enough time during their days/nights to write really meaningful and funny stuff in their blog. I wanna do that too! :( *sob* Where can I fit that in... let's see... let me think a second...

Cafe in Berkeley
Chabot Space and Science Center Cafe
Total Eclipse
RetroRockIt
Bercli (tech company I'm a principal in)
My blackjack addiction
Dog, 2 Cats, 2 Birds, 3 Aquariums, Reptiles
24 Hour Fitness (who am I kidding)
My Tower Records addiction
My Fark.Com addiction
My disastrously messy house (this always seems to be at the bottom of my list...)

I suppose I could really do it when I'm making Ruben do everything at the cafe! :) I'm hiring, too.. that will help!

::wishing I had something funny and witty to say::

The Modern Library | 100 Best | Novels

2006-03-29T16:44:00.000-08:00

Someday I will read all of these:

The Modern Library | 100 Best | Novels

Ok... scratch that... some of these I have already attempted to read and just couldn't do it... namely: Catch-22 (oh how hard it was to read all the made up language and talking in circles!) Tropic of Cancer (snore)... there are others.

One title I see missing from both lists that I thought was just FANTASTIC: Zen and the Art of Motorcycle Maintenance.

Read it.

Now.

Total Eclipse in Blog...

2006-03-28T15:36:00.000-08:00

Whinging It ? Senses Working Overtime

Some great stuff being said about Total Eclipse's show Friday night at Chabot Space and Science Center. Thanks to everyone who came and checked us out. It was a lot of fun, and I think we'll be back again soon!

DomeFest 2006

2006-02-28T08:57:00.000-08:00

DomeFest 2006

Really cool event if you're into the latest technology in planetariums and film-making.... learn how to create immersive digital films for gigantic dome theaters here!

Uncommon Cafe will be on hand serving coffee and pastries!

Tee Shirts

2006-01-23T14:06:00.000-08:00

The Life is Too Short to Drink Shitty Coffee tee shirts have finally arrived! Check them out, order now!

Gifts

Spoken Word / Poetry Slam in Berkeley

2005-11-15T03:19:00.000-08:00

Come out for our first ever Spoken Word/Poetry Slam event at Uncommon Cafe, located at 2813 Seventh Street in Berkeley from 6pm-? THIS Thursday night, the 17th!!!

Sign up sheets are already posted at the cafe, and more are available the night of the event.

Sea Turtle Restoration Project and Chabot Space & Science Center Events

2005-10-18T18:53:00.000-07:00

Nothing like some shameless self-promotion!

The new documentary “Last Journey for the Leatherback?” by the Emmy award-winning documentary filmmaker Stan Minasian (dir. “The Last Days of the Dolphins?,” “The Free Willy Story: Keiko’s Journey Home”) will be screened at Uncommon Café in Berkeley, California on October 27th at 6PM with an encore showing at 7:30PM.

From the press release:

“Sea turtles are really symbolic of what’s happening to the oceans as a whole. As go sea turtles, so go, will go, the ocean,” explains Dr. Earle, a National Geographic Explorer-in-Residence, in the stunning natural duotone opening sequence of the film as dozens of newly hatched leatherback sea turtles crawl to the water under the moonlight.

Scientists predict that the giant Pacific leatherback sea turtle, which has survived unchanged for over 100 million years, could vanish in the next 5 to 30 years, if current threats from wasteful industrial longline fishing are not curtailed. The female nesting population of leatherback sea turtles in the Pacific Ocean has collapsed by 95 per cent in the past 20 years. The leatherback is the largest sea turtle, measuring nine feet from head to tail with the largest ever recorded tipping the scales at 2,000 lbs.

Last Journey for the Leatherback? is a hard hitting documentary that combines science, activism and rare footage of endangered sea turtles, to tell the gripping story of sea turtles, the new icon of the ocean environmental movement. Sea turtles are quickly reaching the status of dolphins and whales and conservationists are becoming increasingly alarmed and active in their fight to save these gentle giants, and to stop the wide-spread impacts on the world’s ocean ecosystems. After the premiere Last Journey for the Leatherback? will move to the festival circuit and eventual broadcast on the Caribbean Broadcast Union, Link TV (US, DirectTV and Dish Network, and PBS (US).

Uncommon Café is located at 2813 Seventh Street in Berkeley, and features organic, locally grown ingredients in their breakfast and lunch menu, as well as fine Fair Trade and Organic coffees roasted on site. This event is a great opportunity to visit Uncommon Café and experience the freshest cup of coffee in the bay area! A portion of the evening’s proceeds will be donated to the Sea Turtle Restoration Project.

For more information please visit: www.seaturtles.org, www.savetheleatherback.com, and www.gotmercury.org

AND MORE SHAMELESS PLUGGING

Join Uncommon Cafe for a weekend full of events at the Chabot Space & Science Center:

Thursday, October 27, 2005 — Mars Lecture and Telescope Viewing 7PM-10PM

Is there life on Mars? Just how close is 43 million miles? Hear about the Red planet and see what the Mars Exploration Rovers have discovered and then go out to the Observatory Deck and view Mars through Chabot’s telescopes.

Friday, October 28, 2005 — Lunar Lounge Express 7PM-Midnight

Price of entry includes:

* Full Access to Chabot Space & Science Center
* Interactive Exhibits, Telescopes (weather permitting)
* SonicVision Alternative Music show

Saturday, October 29, 2005 — Mars Mania Family Costume Party 8PM-Midnight

Party like a Martian, come in costume and celebrate the return of Mars. If you missed it in 2003, now is your chance! Mars will be much more visible - brighter and higher in the sky, like a bright red marble. The evening includes spooky science experiments, a visit with the AstroWizard, Halloween planetarium show, Mars Encounter exhibit, scavenger hunts, prizes, telescope viewing and more!

Sunday, October 30, 2005 — Mars Viewing 8PM-11PM

Weather permitting, view the Red Planet through Chabot’s telescopes. Cost is $5, which is for telescope viewing only. The main Science Center will not be open.

Uncommon Cafe will be on hand serving fresh and delicious dark-roasted coffees, pastries, and other goodies!

Visit www.chabotspace.org or stop by the cafe for more information!

Total Eclipse Testimonial

2005-09-28T02:42:00.000-07:00

So we had a great gig last week at a private party in Vacaville. It was great fun! The crowd was totally into our music, everyone danced and sang along, liquor flowed, steak kabobs were passed around... all in all not a bad way to spend a saturday night! I received the nicest email from the woman who booked us:

Hey,

I wanted to thank you and the band so much for playing at the party last Saturday night. EVERYONE had the best time. You guys have been the talk of the week. A few people have asked where you're playing so they can come and see you. Others have gone to your website and put your music on their computers at work for them and their coworkers (who now also love you). Still a couple more who want to have a party, to hear you play again. Kameo's neighbor came over to thank them for having "the band". His wife had had back surgery and hadn't been very mobile. They went out to their back porch, poured themselves some wine and listened to your music, even got up and slowed dance a little. Said that they could have you back anytime.

Just wanted to let you know that you were a great big hit and will definitely be called for our next big party.

Thank you again and please let the rest of the band know how much everyone enjoyed them.

Hope all is well.

Warmest regards,
~Stacy

It was so nice of her to send the note along. The rest of the band was touched! We have fans! YAY!

Just in case you are just joining this program, you can check out our band at: http://www.totaleclipseband.com/

Cancun update

2005-08-21T14:00:00.000-07:00

It's hotter than hell here... something like 98 degrees with 80%
humidity. It is a jungle after all.

There are people that are good on tours, and people that don't enjoy
guided tours at all. I have to admit, I'm the latter. I hate being
led around by the nose and told when and where to be... I was really
just hoping to book transportation the 200 km or so to the Mayan
ruins at Chichen Itza but we decided to book this tour. What should
have been 2 hours or so there, turned in 6 hours by the time we
picked up all the rest of the people going along, and stopped at the
shopping centers that our tour guide, Jorge, got a commission
from... then we stopped at one of the 'cenotes' at Ik Kil today...
they are giant sinkholes, basically the roof of a cavern over an
underground river that has collapsed on itself. There were lots of
people swimming and jumping in from a high platform carved into the
wall. And after a rather unappetizing buffet lunch, we FINALLY made
it to the site.

Our guide was very knowledgeable about the site, though we had to
hear every fact at least three times, usually because he repeated
himself twice, and then some moron would ask him to answer a question
that he had just answered. Makes me absolutely crazy... and you know
there always has to be at least one mother on the bus that complains
about everything, and asks people to move so she can have a more
comfortable seat, and then blabs the entire trip... she sat a couple
of rows behind us.

UncleMonkeyBoi says that he had waited 20 years to go to Chichen
Itza, and had read everything he could about it in high school. He
was very excited about getting to go. After a lengthy lesson from
Jorge, Michael and I climbed that gigantic pyramid whose narrow steps
are almost completely straight up. That nearly killed me in the
heat... and THEN... we decided to go inside the pyramid, which
involved climbing up these EXTREMELY narrow stairs in a VERY SMALL
hallway. It was like climbing into a coffin attic. If you ever find
yourself there, I recommend avoiding the inside staircase. Though
our tour guide told us that at the end of the month they will be
closing the Kukulcan temple to the public and it's likely you won't
have that problem.

The site is over run with monitor lizards and grey iguanas. It was
really quite amusing to see them running free everywhere. I played
with one in a tree while Jorge was rambling on. There was a
relatively cute guy on our tour with his girlfriend who turned out to
be quite skittish when I pointed out the bats that were hanging in
the ceiling of one of the ruins. She gave a nice startled screech and
ran out... her doting boyfriend right behind her. I think they are
actually staying in the Flamingo Hotel with us, but we hadn't seen
them before or since. They weren't exactly friendly, so whatever.

I will be putting pictures up once I get home and can properly edit
these posts. I'm sending everything via email at the moment because
access to webpages is rather spotty. We have booked ourselves on
another tour (oh boy) to Xel-Ha and Tulum for first thing in the
morning. This should be a bit more up my alley, because we get to go
snorkeling in an underground river, and we are promised more wildlife.

Until next time.

Things I Learned on Our First Day in Cancun

2005-08-16T16:07:00.001-07:00

Correo seguro, verificado por Xtreme Solutions del Caribe, SA de CV.

1. UncleMonkeyBoi gets very cranky when forced to go 12 hours without
a cigarette.
2. A screaming kid will always stop screaming just in time for the
final descent.
3. A screaming kid is not only effective birth control, it is also
quite likely a leading cause of alcoholism.
4. Having a Manhattan at 6:30AM will not kill you. It will in fact,
make you drunk.
5. Being drunk on an airplane is not as much fun as you might think.
6. Taxi drivers are the same everywhere. Crazy.
7. It pays to request early check in... our room was ready and a
lobby full of people had to wait for theirs.
8. A lobby full of tourists is loud.
9. Spray on sunscreen is good in theory.
10. Spray on sunscreen reality: it leaves you with a blotchy sunburn.
11. Jimmy Buffett is a smart man. He makes shitty food, but his
restaurants are everywhere I want to go.
12. Not having internet access in your hotel room sucks.

Cancun Day 2

2005-08-16T16:07:00.000-07:00

Correo seguro, verificado por Xtreme Solutions del Caribe, SA de CV.

We still haven't found an internet cafe yet. I will ask in the lobby
tomorrow. Hopefully they won't charge me extra for advice. Seems
everything here has a price. We tried to pick up some suntan lotion
that wasn't SPF 30 like the stuff we brought. I also wanted some
aloe to soothe the patchy sunburn (see yesterday's entry) that I got.
Grand total for the two small bottles. $42.00 US. I said forget it.
We're not buying anything in the hotel shop from here on out.

The hotel is quite nice... they put us in an ocean view room on a
corner. We're on the 4th floor and have a great view. I'll be sure
to post some pictures when I get internet access. The room is
comfortable... king size bed, large bathroom etc. But they will not
allow us to bring in any outside food or beverages... so no ordering
a pizza, or going to the liquor store across the street and bringing
beer up to the room. We're stuck buying beer from room service, or
going down to the bar and paying roughly 4.00 for a small cup of Dos
Equix.

Another thing I find a bit limiting about this place is the
security... while I"m sure it's a good thing, but if you were to meet
some friends who were staying at another hotel (or make new friends)
you could not invite them up to your room because they are not
wearing this intrusive little arm bracelet. We got tagged, like birds.

We walked around the hotel zone today, and found the shopping malls.
Everything here is very tourist-centric. The stores carried clothing
from Hugo Boss, Dolce & Gabanna, Versace etc. I fell in love with a
shirt in the window, only to discover that they wanted over $300USD
for it. I don't think I've ever paid 300 for an entire outfit, let
alone a cute white linen shirt with a large orange flower on the
shoulder.

I'm hoping to do some wandering around the downtown area and finding
the places that the natives shop. I've seen guys walking around in
the coolest linen pants, and I must have a pair to go home in.

We managed to make it out to one of the gay clubs in Cancun,
Picante. It was much smaller than I was lead to believe on the
website. Nearly empty when we arrived, but filled up around 1am. A
guy named Diego who insisted on talking to me while I was trying to
pee, informed me that there are two better clubs to go to: Carumba
and Glow. We'll check them out later this week.

We slept like 15 hours yesterday between the nap on the beach, the
nap in the room, and then sleeping after our nap. We're going to turn
in now, and try to go to Tulum and Xel-Ha tomorrow maybe.

More later!

PostSecret

2005-08-04T00:38:00.000-07:00

Amazing.

PostSecret

RetroRockit Gig Tomorrow

2005-07-30T21:45:00.000-07:00

The Benicia Water Front Festival
Sunday, July 31st, 2:00 to 4:30pm
at the Water Front Stage downtown Benicia,
Benicia Waterfront Festival

Hope to see you all there!

Total Eclipse Website is Up!

2005-07-26T02:07:00.000-07:00

Spent the day working on the band's website... our demo recordings are up.

I'll be updating the About Us page as soon as I get everyone to provide me with bios. At any rate, check out the site:
Total Eclipse

:: one down, a million to go ::

Tired - - So Tired

2005-07-25T15:02:00.000-07:00

Man what a week! The Cafe Grand Opening was a big success! The band's first gig went great. We also played Rhiannon's birthday party on Sunday. I'm so tired! UMB and I decided to stay home and relax today. I'm doing some work on the myriad of websites I am building.

:: snore ::

Wasted day...

2005-07-19T02:38:00.000-07:00

I believe that I have become so overwhelmed by the list of things that I have to do that my brain just shut down and wants to do nothing. I stayed home today... and did absolutely nothing... I sat on the couch and watched Law and Order reruns all day long (bless the folks at USA and TNT for that!).

I didn't even get dressed.

I didn't even crack open the new Harry Potter book that was waiting for me on the front step Saturday morning.

Something is seriously wrong.

Here's a brain dump of the things on my plate:

Tiskets and Taskets Website Redesign

Tear Records Website Redesign

Watch The Guys perpetual bullshit... it's been at least 6 weeks since I've heard from the guys about the new software. I've lost my patience with them and this whole project. Even if I were to complete it today, I've put at least 4x the amount of work into it as I quoted them. They've only paid me 25% and I have a feeling I'll never see another dime!

Close the Cafe Books for June - take note it's the 19th of July today.

Pay Cafe Bills

Payroll

Finalize plans for this weekend's Grand Opening party.

Develop Marketing plan for Bercli

Bercli Website Redesign

Learn everything I possibly can about phased array ultrasonics technology

Pin UMB down about where we want to go on vacation

Clean the house

Organize the garage

Landscaping the yard

And the list continues.. this is just the stuff keeping me awake lately. Well, that and all the personal shit that has been going on lately.

Personal shit, yes... I have a blog, but I'm not going into it here...

Anyway, instead of doing any one of the things on this list today, I watched reruns and read overheardinnewyork.com.

Now I'm going to bed just to get up and head to the cafe and start putting out the millions of little fires that come up during the average day.

:: hoping someone figures out how I can make several clones of myself to do all this shit ::

My So Called Gay Life

2005-07-18T15:01:00.000-07:00

Check out my friend, Cloudclipper's blog. He's met someone he's really really into and I couldn't be happier for him. Read all about it at: My So Called Gay Life.

Yelp - Reviews of Uncommon Cafe - Berkeley, CA 94710

2005-07-15T17:08:00.000-07:00

Hey --

My cafe got it's first review today:

Yelp - Reviews of Uncommon Cafe - Berkeley, CA 94710

Whoo Hoo!!!

Uncommon News

2005-07-15T02:11:00.000-07:00

Thanks to my good friend Dan, I got a blog up and working for the Cafe. Check out the Uncommon News site. Be sure to check it regularly for some updates that I may forget to put on this site! I only have so many hours in the day ya know!

:: off to bed ::

My NEW Mac

2005-07-14T02:41:00.000-07:00

So most of you know I converted to Mac a few months ago and got an iBook. Well, since I had to keep stealing it back from UMB, I decided to get another one! So I got the 15" Powerbook. Hot! Love it!

The Apple Store (U.S.)

Uncommon Cafe Grand Opening!

2005-07-14T01:42:00.000-07:00

Hey Everyone!

We're having the cafe grand opening finally -- come check it out and hear our band play from 1-4!

Please feel free to pass this on to anyone you think might be interested in coming out! It's going to be a lot of fun!

Hope you can come out and say hi!

Overheard

2005-07-12T02:20:00.000-07:00

I'm sure you've all seen or heard about this already, but this is a really funny site. Check it out!

Floating around the lake...

2005-07-09T01:17:00.000-07:00

Since I've hired some competent employees to work at the cafe, I've been able to take a breather... first time in a long time I've been able to just relax a bit. UMB and I took Gracie and headed up to Lake Berryessa for the afternoon. We've actually been going quite often lately. It's only about 40 minutes from home, and it's quite nice.

It's funny how the lakes here don't get as crowded as Table Rock or Taneycomo do back home. Hell, even Truman Lake is busier than the lakes I've seen around here. Guess it is because of the proximity of the ocean that splits the people out.

RetroRockIt is gigging tomorrow at the Oakland Motorcycle Club around 5 pm if anyone is interested in checking us out. Should be an interesting show. Me fronting a band playing for 500 bikers.

:: looking for my leather harness ::

The Flying Spaghetti Monster

2005-06-17T11:58:00.000-07:00

Open Letter to the Kansas School Board

Contagious Media Showdown

2005-06-08T22:38:00.000-07:00

Contagious Media Showdown

Truth Or Fiction - email reality check - verify rumors

2005-05-28T14:50:00.000-07:00

Truth Or Fiction - email reality check - verify rumors

Check this out!

Uncommon Cafe - Berkeley Retail Coffees, Teas, and Gifts

2005-04-23T01:03:00.000-07:00

Been busier than believeable... I'm part owner of the Uncommon Cafe in Berkeley. Check out our website and our online store!

We serve Uncommon Grounds coffee, which is roasted on site. We specialize in organic, fair trade coffees. We also serve as a retail outlet for Numi teas.

Check us out!

What's Hot has been updated too!

2005-03-22T00:21:00.000-08:00

There's an update.

Seriously, I'm lame.

2005-03-21T23:04:00.000-08:00

Has it really been THAT long since my last post? I don't understand how it's so hard to write just a little something now and again... I guess because I've been crazy busy. Here are some highlights:

Deb and I are now the proud owners of The Uncommon Cafe in Berkeley. I haven't the foggiest how that happened. Anyway, the site should be up and operational soon.

I turned 30. *deep sigh*

I bought a new car: 2005 Toyota Matrix XR... silver, sunroof, 6 cd changer... Yay me!

It's really hard to write something when so much has happened. Yikes.

::swearing again to do better::

Updated my What's Hot Page

2004-10-13T02:30:00.000-07:00

I hadn't checked in on this page for quite a while, so I updated it tonight...

I've added The Tipping Point, Blow Fly, and Angels and Demons to my READ list.

I've added the DVD's for Saved!, Connie and Carla, and of course, Farenheit 9/11. Which, if you haven't seen it yet... what's the matter with you? That movie made me so mad I couldn't see straight... not mad at Michael Moore, the movie was amazing, but mad at the media, and mad at those in charge of our daily lives. If only half of what Michael Moore says is true, we are in deeper shit than I ever imagined.

In the Listen column, you'll find Queen Latifah's new album, "Dana Owens" which leaves a little bit to be desired, as far as a couple of performances go... but overall it's great, and I really want to support her decision to record some of this music. I have been saying for years that she needed to do a jazz album. I saw her perform "My Funny Valentine" on the Tonight Show a long time ago and was blown away... and then of course, there was her performance in "Living Out Loud" that showed exactly how great her talent is.

Also in the Listen column are two new artists that I have been completely taken with. Marc Broussard has got this deep earthy soul-filled voice born in the bayou. Powerful performances make this a must-hear. And finally, my favorite new artist of the summer, Michael Tolcher. Smart songwriting, catchy melodies, and knock out performances. It's great. I truly love every song on the album, though Taxi Ride Kinda Night ends very strangely and I haven't decided that I like it.

Well anyway, there's that part of the update. I'll write more later, including showing a picture of the newest addition to our family.

Jester

Feedback Made Simple with PlanetFeedback

2004-09-28T03:12:00.000-07:00

I love this site. I've used it several times, with great results. Have a complaint or a compliment for a company you've had experience with? Send them a letter telling them about it.

Feedback Made Simple with PlanetFeedback

Our House!

2004-08-03T21:48:00.000-07:00

So... you may have noticed that I haven't posted in a while... well I've been insanely busy trying to find a house to buy... finally... after looking at least 30 houses, and being outbid 6 times, we finally found a place!!! I guess the 7th time is the charm now?

Anyway... here are some pics of the place.
Photos - New House

I'll write more later tonight.

2004-06-12T04:31:00.000-07:00

Saw The Stepford Wives today. Not nearly as creepy as the original. It does have Bette Midler, Nicole Kidman, and my old pal Faith Hill in it... so it's of course worth seeing. Perfect for a 'bored what else do we have to do' kind of day. Otherwise... wait until it's a rental.

Matty's Journal

2004-06-10T04:06:00.000-07:00

My friend Matt keeps a livejournal that I didn't know about...

We don't keep in touch like we should, especially considering the sordid history that is our friendship.

I paged back through the past several months of his writing... and it reminded me of something that at one time hurt me in a way I could never get him to understand. He could talk for hours and days about how no one would ever love him for who he is, and relationships never work with him because the other person is never willing to commit to him, give everything they had to be with him... no one would think about him night and day and want nothing more than to be content with him. All the while I was standing in front of him with a fist full of romance and doing everything I could to show him that I was EXACTLY the person he was looking for. At the time, *I* thought about him night and day. I sent him cards and gifts and talked to him as often as I could... would get downright giddy when he would grace me with a phone call from Wisconsin. I went to great lengths to plan a spring break trip for him that turned out to be one of the most amazing vacations I have ever had. (Check the link and see the cemetaries, architecture, and flowers pages for some of the pics.)

All the while, he was simultaneously telling me that he wasn't ready for a relationship, and dating someone at school.

I think it is a universal truth that we are never more parched than when we are standing in a river.

A couple of weeks before Matt came to live with me for that summer in Berkeley, I met UncleMonkeyBoy. UMB always seemed worried that he was the 'rebound' from Matt... and Matt always seemed to think that since I could get into a relationship with UMB so soon after him (whatever our relationship was) that I must not have really cared about him. They were both misguided in their concerns.

Matt made it clear that he couldn't see me as a partner. UMB entered my life at the exact moment that I let go of Matt. It was not that I cared any less about him, just that I could no longer afford to focus the attention on him that I once had. This caused a lot of tension in my place that summer. Matt was convinced that I was being callous and that I lied to him when I said that my intentions were noble and unselfish. What he didn't understand at the time is that like all other things in nature, all elements of a situation will eventually attempt to return to a state of equilibrium. I could no long give everything that I had without getting anything in return, not because I was selfish, but because I had nothing left to give. It was all yang, no yin. I was like a 9 Volt, hanging on until well after the low-battery indicator light begged to be dealt with.

It's been over 2 years now since that road trip and UMB and I got together. For the most part our relationship is level. Perhaps lately I've been more selfish than I should, I chalk that up to being stressed about the job and living situation and business plan and all the other little things that seem to come up. We rarely fight (we've only ever had ONE *real* fight), and never stay mad at each other.

I often make a relationship analogous to a hand. If your hand is open, people are allowed to move freely back and forth, in and out of your life... when one leaves, another soon walks through. If you clench your hand into a fist, trying to hold on to the one that happens to be standing there, not only does that person struggle to get free, but everyone that is trying to get in is blocked.

It took me 27 years to learn how to apply that idea to my own life. This is my hope that my good friend Matt learns to keep an open hand.

2004-06-05T01:26:00.000-07:00

Very cool topic happening at RetroCrush.com about the coolest song moments.

2004-06-05T01:21:00.000-07:00

Sympathy for the Devil... A great article about one of the best rock songs ever! Check it out!

June 1st.

2004-06-01T03:16:00.000-07:00

I can't believe it's June 1st already. For those of you following along at home, today is my last day of employment at the Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory. I don't have very many nice things to say about the Lab right now, and I want to wait to say what I want until after I receive my severance check, if you know what I mean.

One of the hardest things for me to do, as a songwriter or an author is stare at the blank page and figure out what to put in black and white. I think that same problem carries over into my life.

How can you start the next chapter without having some idea where it should go... can you write a verse without an idea of what the chorus pay off is going to be?

It's time to start this next chapter in my life story, and I haven't the faintest idea where to set it. Does our fearless (?) protagonist tough it out in the brutal financial landscape that is northern California? And if so, does he open his own business? Buy a house? Rent a crappy apartment until he can afford to buy a house? Or perhaps he loads up his wagon and heads to San Diego, to do who knows what? Then again, he could take off to Nashville and get an affordable place and work on songwriting again.

I'm extremely anxious to start the next storyline, but I'm sitting here with the worst case of writer's block I've ever had. Literally.

Searching for....

2004-06-01T03:03:00.000-07:00

So I got curious this evening/morning and decided to look at the stats for my blogger page. Here's something funny: My page gets accessed fairly often (even though no one bothers to comment or ever drop me an email *sigh*) by people with some unusual search terms. Seems I show up on the first page of a google search for "benadryl sedate cat" apparently because of my story of the unfortunate incident with Zipper and the bonecrusher garbage disposal.

Incidentally, for everyone who finds this post due to that search:

Yes, you can sedate a cat with benadryl. I have done it several times. You too will learn if you ever decide to drive cross-country with a very unhappy cat in a carrier. At any rate... You can safely give a cat weighing over 8 pounds a standard 50mg pill (the kind you can buy OTC). It will make the cat VERY sleepy. If you're worried about it, you can give a smaller dosage by breaking the capsule open and mixing the contents with some wet cat food or tuna.

Be aware, though, that the taste is really nasty and will likely cause the foaming that I mentioned in the referenced story. It's just the cat's way of trying to get that nasty taste out of her mouth. She can't really pick up a toothbrush or use an altoid, can she?

I wouldn't recommend giving benadryl to any cat under 8 pounds with out consulting your vet. As a matter of fact, since I'm not a vet, I don't recommend giving anything to your cat without a vet's ok. I'm only speaking about my own personal experience.

To round off the point I was making about the searches that lead people to my page... They apparently like to look for things associated with Wil Wheaton. He's got a great page that you can check out by clicking on his name, or you can check out the page on my website that has that great picture of the two of us at a radio promotion I was attending with Tiffany.

Help a friend...

2004-05-20T14:04:00.000-07:00

So my friend got a response to her personal ad today, that I just had to share with everyone:

You sound like such a dominating bitch, I want this and I want that, I'm not sure why I am writing you. I guess because our interests match up so good. If your still intersted and if I'm still interested you can email me at rich@sweezey.com

Maybe opposites do attract.
Rich

Anyone up for signing him up to every gay porn spam site you can find?? Muhahahahahahahaaha....

Andy Kaufman Returns?

2004-05-19T20:29:00.000-07:00

So I ran across this blog today "Andy Kaufman Returns" and found it all very humorous. I don't buy it for a minute, but you have to admit the gag is pretty good. Just wonder how long he'll keep it up before he gets bored and disappears.

I dropped an email to Wil Wheaton, thinking he'd find it interesting. Here was his response:

Hey [Jester],

I stood on my roof and shouted, "Shennannigans!" when I heard this earlier today. I think it's been debunked.

Good scam, though.

W

I'm not sure which is funnier.. the guy claiming to be Andy Kaufman, or the mental image I have of Wil standing on his roof shouting "Shennannigans!" Ok, that's not true. I know which is funnier. Wil, by far.

2004-05-19T20:15:00.000-07:00

Hello! That works pretty damn well. One-click photo publishing to your blog is here now. Check it out!

2004-05-19T20:10:00.000-07:00

The logo for my new band... what do you think?

YOU HAVE GOT TO BE KIDDING ME!!!!!!!!!!!

2004-05-13T23:53:00.000-07:00

I don't mean to shout, but it's official. The general public are IDIOTS. How else can you explain La Toya London's dismissal from American Idol? It's not even right.

And it's not that I'm the biggest fan in the world, frankly, I think Fantasia should win the competition for exuding so much personality. However, La Toya has the best voice, incredible stage presence, and I'm certain will be 10X the recording artist that Fantasia is. At any rate, this was not her week to go home. Jasmine is a fine artist for her age, give her a few years and she could be a great performer. Diana is already a great performer, but I think America is trying to get away from the blonde spunky girls (in the vein of Kelly Clarkson)...

I don't think the show is rigged, personally... what I think is actually happening is viewer complacency...

1) the finalists from all of the previous episodes either have a record deal, or have gone on to some sort of entertainment career... viewers think, so what if they don't win, we'll still get an album out of them. (While we're on the subject, check out my "What's Hot" page for a link to Kimberley Locke's new album, it's fantastic!)

2) There is the belief that everyone else is voting for the contestants, so what's the point.. they already have enough to win. I think that's what we saw happen with Jennifer Hudson, and I think that's a strong possibility here, as well.

3) There's an innate human desire to root for the underdog. Jasmine's tearfest last night when getting rightfully criticized by the judges was probably just the ticket for scoring the sympathy vote.

4) Simon dissed Hawaii, and you know how the Hawaiians get!

I'll close for the moment... but I'm shaking my angry fist at the sky and screaming "Why!? Why!?"

Ouch my head hurts

2004-05-11T00:40:00.000-07:00

I'm battling some nasty allergies this week. My eyes swelled shut suddenly last night. Very strange. I had to pry them open to get my contacts out. No, I didn't rub shrimp in them.

I've spent almost the entire day and evening, hell it's midnight... I can't believe it.... I"ve been working on my business plan since about noon. I'm getting close!

The math is killing me. I hate math. I hate having to try and estimate what I think MIGHT possibly, perhaps be a good estimate for monthly sales. How am I supposed to know? I've done all the research I can and now I just have to guess. Still. It hurts.

On that note, I'm off to bed finally. I've barely seen Unclemonkeyboy tonight. He's learning the guitar and has been glued to the video cassette lessons... I'm out in the office trying to get a monitor tan. I don't think it's working.

*yawn* g'night.

What's Hot!

2004-05-10T20:32:00.000-07:00

In honor of all the changes that Blogger has made, I've updated the look of my blog as well! I was having some trouble with the What's Hot section on the last template, so I've made a new page on my website that works well... I'll add my recommendations for books, music, and movies to that site whenever the urge strikes me... Check it out at: What's Hot!!!

Enjoy. :)

Screaming Queens Drag Entertainment

2004-05-10T03:37:00.000-07:00

Ok... This is simply BRILLIANT!!! Screaming Queens Drag Entertainment

I can't stop laughing at this :

He doesn't know she is a he. What I want to see is a photo of this guy at the exact moment he realizes that she has a little 'extra' to offer.

I love this quote from the founder of the company, Alex Heimberg, aka Miss Understood:

"I met people like Iggy, a who painted his face white, embellished it with Austrian Crystals, and sang Marlene Dietrich songs. I met Winona, a beautiful blonde gogo 'girl' who had created extra eyes on her face from false eyelashes and magazine cutouts. They called her 'Goldie Hawn From Outer Space' Then there was Princess Diandra who would get all done up and strut down the aisles at Diana Ross concerts, fooling the audience into believing the diva had arrived, leaving Miss Ross and her security team infuriated."

Infuriated indeed!

"I'm coming out... I want the world to know...."

Add me to your My Yahoo Page!

2004-05-10T01:53:00.001-07:00

Subscribe to this feed through My Yahoo:

New Feed Burner Site Feed

2004-05-10T01:53:00.000-07:00

New Atom Site Feed

2004-05-10T01:52:00.000-07:00

Pat McGee Band

2004-05-10T00:42:00.000-07:00

Color me excited!!! I was in Tower records today and discovered that one of my FAVORITE bands (who know one has heard of) has a new album out!!! Yippppppeeee! I bought it, I'm listening to it now.. it's fantastic, of course! Check them out:
Pat McGee Band

God what a month...

2004-05-08T01:36:00.000-07:00

I have a good excuse this time. I really do. My grandmother fell ill and was hospitalized for two weeks. I spent 6 days staying in a hospital waiting room helping my family make the decision to remove her from dialysis and cease all aggressive life-extending measures that were keeping her alive. She passed away on April 12, which is also my brother's birthday.

I spent the next week dealing with even worse family drama involving her belongings, and the house that she had lived in for forty years.

I'm not ready to write about her, and the things that I would really like to commit to print, but I will soon.

I did get the chance to reconnect with my cousins who are all grown up now... it's amazing, I still picture them as the little kids that they were when we ran around my grandma's at Christmas... but they're not, and they were pretty accepting and perhaps even a bit in awe of me and my California ways.

All these events put a stop to my efforts to buy a house, and start my own business. Now that I am back in town I am trying to get that momentum going again. In the meantime, my house is now full of boxes and boxes of collectibles, antiques and other random stuff that I have agreed to sell on EBay to try and help defray the hospital and funeral expenses that my family will be stuck with. If you have a moment, you might drop over to my EBay seller's page and see if there's anything there you can't live with out and could drop a few bucks on to help us out. You can see a list of all my current auctions here.

Oh yeah.. forgot to mention that I got laid off... well I may have mentioned that my last day was going to be June 1, but they decided that since I had no job description and no duties to perform that I could take the last month off with pay. Not that I'm complaining, but I'm really struggling to figure out where to go and what to do next. I always seem to land on my feet, but the days leading up to those decisions are the absolute worse.

All in all, April was awful, stressful, and outside of the ONE night that I got to visit with some friends while back in Kansas City, and getting to visit with my cousins, it was devoid of anything remotely fun.

All for now... but hopefully I'll get back in to the swing of things now that I'm off work.

Instinct Magazine's Suggestions for New Reality Television Shows:

2004-04-01T14:46:00.000-08:00

America's Fattest Slut
The Last Florist Standing
Who Wants to Marry a Closeted Mormon?
Boy Meets Goat
Get Me Out of Here, I'm a Lesbian!
Celebrity Spider Hole
My Loud, Drunk, Obnoxious Fag Hag
Extreme Haircut
America's Top Telemarketer
Trading Boyfriends
Celebrity Knitting
Tragic Midlife Crisis
Queer Factor
Bachelorette: Fire Island
Teen Bitch USA

Something I received via email...

2004-03-25T14:07:00.000-08:00

Things I've learned from my children (honest & no kidding):

1. A king size waterbed holds enough water to fill a 2000 sq. ft. house 4 inches deep.

2. If you spray hairspray on dust bunnies and run over them with roller blades, they can ignite.

3. A 3-year old's voice is louder than 200 adults in a crowded restaurant.

4. If you hook a dog leash over a ceiling fan, the motor is not strong enough to rotate a 42 pound boy wearing Batman underwear
and a Superman cape. It is strong enough, however, if tied to a paint can, to spread paint on all four walls of a 20x20 ft. room.

5. You should not throw baseballs up when the ceiling fan is on. When using a ceiling fan as a bat, you have to throw the ball up a
few times before you get a hit. A ceiling fan can hit a baseball a long way.

6. The glass in windows (even double-pane) doesn't stop a baseball hit by a ceiling fan.

7. When you hear the toilet flush and the words "uh oh," it's already too late.

8. Brake fluid mixed with Clorox makes smoke, and lots of it.

9. A six-year old can start a fire with a flint rock even though a 36-year old man says they can only do it in the movies.

10. Certain Lego's will pass through the digestive tract of a 4-year old.

11. Playdough and microwave should not be used in the same sentence.

12. Superglue is forever.

13. No matter how much Jell-O you put in a swimming pool you still can't walk on water.

14. Pool filters do not like Jell-O.

15. VCR's do not eject PB&J sandwiches even though TV commercials show they do.

16. Garbage bags do not make good parachutes.

17. Marbles in gas tanks make lots of noise when driving.

18. You probably do not want to know what that odor is.

19. Always look in the oven before you turn it on. Plastic toys do not like ovens.

20. The fire department in Austin, TX has a 5-minute response time.

21. The spin cycle on the washing machine does not make earthworms dizzy.

22. It will, however, make cats dizzy.

23. Cats throw up twice their body weight when dizzy.

Happy Birthday to me...

2004-02-17T13:58:00.000-08:00

What did you get me?

Oy

2004-02-12T20:58:00.000-08:00

I'd be lying if I didn't say how fucking crazy my life has become in the past couple weeks... long story short, I'm getting laid of at work. So now I have to figure out what I want to do with my life, and I only have until June 1st to figure it out... I've auditioned for a couple of bands, and have found one that I really like, still waiting to see if they want me to join them or not. I"m working on a couple of free lance web jobs... and I"m writing an ebook for PCBootyCall.com. I've got a lot of irons in the fire... Forgive the long wait between posts.. but I don't think anyone is really reading this anyway. I have no comments, no feedback, no one writes any encouraging words... I have no idea if there is even anyone out there at all. I guess it doesn't matter too much.

Ugh.

Yeah... so....

2004-01-19T21:46:00.000-08:00

I know I said I was going be hitting this blog really hard the last time I wrote, but I decided to spend more time working on my music site and getting this rolling there. I'm connecting my albums database to the Amazon shopping center... so you too can own the albums that I own. I have a little less than half of the albums connect so far (give me a break, there are over 700 for me to look up individually and that shit takes time!)

I'm also writing reviews for most of the albums. I only have a few done so far, but they will be coming, I promise. I really really do.

Anyway, more later, the net is pretty slow tonight and I think I'm gonna go check out something on TIVO. Have I mentioned lately how much I love TIVO!?

Wow

2004-01-05T01:36:00.000-08:00

It's been a long fucking time since I wrote anything... mostly because I've been out of town over the holidays. My vacation sure hasn't felt like a vacation, and I have to return to work tomorrow. Ugh. I really don't want to go. In fact, I think if I could, I'd quit tomorrow. Unfortunately, I can't just up and quit this job. I need to stick it out for another 4 months to get my retirement secured. Not that it will be a lot of money, but it will be *something.*

I'll probably write a bunch tomorrow from work, since I don't think I'll be able to be very productive.. what with the having to run everything by my new supervisor and all. *sigh*

Anyhoo... I've got a good idea for my website/blog. I think I'll do more music reviews of my old stuff and the ton of new music I got for Christmas. Sounds like fun to me, but then again, I'm a bit strange.

Off to spend a night tossing and turning because I'm stressed.

Mr. Picassohead

2003-12-19T14:05:00.000-08:00

This is a pretty cool site:
Mr. Picassohead

Siteturn Networks Web Hosting

2003-12-15T16:46:00.000-08:00

I've used Siteturn many many times.. I currently run 4 different sites using them. They're a good value, though occasionally I have difficulty getting through to customer service. Anyway... if you're looking for a web host that will give you a lot of bang for your buck... check em out, and if you order something from them, they'll pay me a referral bonus! Hint, hint. ;)

David Argento Photography

2003-12-11T23:09:00.000-08:00

This just may be the best website I've ever designed. Check it out!
David Argento Photography

I'm looking for more freelance projects, if you're interested, drop me a line!

Maroon 5

2003-11-28T00:39:00.000-08:00

I love it when I pick up a disc on a whim, plopping down 15 bucks for a band you've heard perhaps one song's worth... and discovering a truly wonderful album. Such is the case with LA's Maroon 5. Mix two parts Stevie Wonder with one part Incubus and you might come close to the explosive sound this group puts out.

If you've heard the single "Harder To Breathe" (a great song in its own right) but haven't heard anything else, you are missing out. The second song on the disc, "This Love" gives you an idea of where this group's talent lies... soulful catchy melodies, intelligent lyrics, and great production. Adam Levine's lead vocals are clear and strong, almost hypnotic. This disc has barely left my cd player in the car...

Favorite Tracks:
Harder To Breathe
She Will Be Loved
Sunday Morning

Hope everyone had a wonderful Thanksgiving. Ours was quite nice, I made a huge dinner and ate so much I fear I may explode when getting back up from my desk. Now I can look forward to those great leftover turkey sandwiches!

Let me just pop the button on my jeans... there... all better...

Jonathan Brandis

2003-11-22T01:01:00.000-08:00

*sigh*

If nothing else, he was too freaking cute to die.
The Associated Press

calm before the storm...

2003-11-14T00:28:00.000-08:00

I know I just posted and mentioned how I haven't felt much like writing lately... it's true. I haven't felt much like doing anything. I'm definitely reaching that place in my life where I'm ready for some big changes. In the past, this has meant moving to a new city, and finding a new job. I just don't know if I want to continue that pattern or not.

Being in northern California for almost six years makes it officially my record for staying in the same place for the longest amount of time. (with the exception of Joplin where I lived until I was 14) I didn't even live in Kansas City for this long. You would think that I would feel like this is my home. Funny, now that I think about it... I really don't.

Swampie was asking me questions today about how I would feel if I just traveled non-stop and had no home... would I be able to keep from going insane. I told her that I could certainly do that. She said she couldn't do it, that she would have to have some place to return to that would keep her grounded. I can't say I've ever felt that way. As long as I'm relatively healthy and able to pay for my expenses, I can be anywhere. I'd love to travel more. I've always envied those people that backpack across Europe with no plan, no money, no where in particular to go or be.

I guess I'm not really meant to have a 'home' as such. I guess home is where you feel comfortable, and I try to take that reliance onto myself. I can be comfortable anywhere. I have no fear of moving on or change. I guess most people do have that fear of change.

Things are brewing up terribly at work. I don't know what is going to happen, and while I normally welcome changes, I know the changes ahead are not good. I know that things are about to become absolutely unbearable. We shall see very soon. My boss has a meeting that directly affects my future in the morning. The guy lobbying to become my supervisor hasn't even bothered to meet me. I can't believe the audacity and disrespect that people get away with. It's not only tolerated, it's encouraged!

Oh well, like I always say... "I was looking for a job when I found this one." I'll make out ok. I really want to open a pet store in the Fairfield area. I've seen the competition.... I can do it bigger, better, and definitely cleaner than they can.

Clouds are coming this way... both atmospherically and figuratively. Gotta find my umbrella...

The Onion | Mom Finds Out About Blog

2003-11-14T00:15:00.000-08:00

This had me cracking up... I guess it's a good thing that I haven't felt much like writing lately....The Onion | Mom Finds Out About Blog

Trojan Games

2003-11-07T23:11:00.000-08:00

HAHAHAHA. You gotta love the Brits. Check this out:Trojan Games

Happy Halloween

2003-10-31T14:11:00.000-08:00

Check out the Halloween Safety Tips that are floating around from Wil Wheaton and the guys at Fark.

Have a great night!

Boulders Golf Center - San Leandro California

2003-10-29T02:02:00.000-08:00

I have been so busy lately, that blogging hasn't been a huge priority. I'm working on my latest contract job:

Boulders Golf Center - San Leandro California

There will be more pages to come in the near future.. if you're in the area, check it out... It's a great place. We're working with them to get some fund raisers going for the robotics program that I volunteer with. Hopefully it will work out just fine!

Off to bed. I'm tiiiiiiired. ;)

the art of steve walker

2003-10-22T01:22:00.000-07:00

A couple of weeks ago, I was at the Castro Street Fair and noticed a booth containing prints by one of my favorite artists,
Steve Walker. I have several prints of his around my house (truth be told, they are cut out of a calendar, matted and framed... hey, I'd love to be able to spend 80 bucks on every picture, but I can't..), but as I got closer to the booth, I realized that Steve himself was in attendance. Robineggblue made the very good point that you should really support the artists that bring you joy or that you really admire. So I bought a print and Steve signed it.

I'm so glad I did it. It got a small scratch on it (almost invisible) when Unclemonkeyboi was framing it, nevertheless, it's a great thing to have.

Support your local artists.

Boing Boing: A Directory of Wonderful Things

2003-10-19T11:57:00.000-07:00

Boing Boing: A Directory of Wonderful Things

Great site.

Jester's Resume

2003-10-17T13:14:00.000-07:00

I told you I'd get around to posting this: Jester's Resume.

Got a job to offer? Need a contract Web Designer?

Reasonable rates....

time warp

2003-10-15T01:13:00.000-07:00

I can't believe it's been a week since I posted last. My friend Mouth arrived in town on Thursday last week, and I've been on the go ever since, trying to get her set up with a place to live and a job.

I got my term paper back tonight. I got an A. Yay for me.

Recent shake ups at work have me worried that my job isn't very secure at the moment. I have put a lot of effort into getting my resume updated and I'll try to post it online tomorrow. Sent it out in pursuit of some contract web design work. I hope I can get something going.

until next time campers....

the worst day. ever.

2003-10-07T21:56:00.000-07:00

It started out with Unclemonkeyboi running somewhat late for work. I offered to drive him to BART if he waited for me to take a shower. We left the house and headed for the gas station to fill up my car. I had apparently been MUCH closer to being out of gas than I thought, because we got less than half a block when the car died. After many starts and gooses and pushes from UMB, I finally got to the block where the station sits. They wouldn't loan me a gas can, so I had to pay 15 bucks for one (out of the 30 total I had to my name...) and carried the gas to the car. I managed to spill a lot of it on my while filling the car up enough to get to the station.

Finally on the road with less than 15 minutes to get UMB to work... I had given up on dropping him off at BART, he was going to be late as it was... I realized on the way that I hadn't voted in today's recall election. So I stepped on the gas, making UMB very nervous.

After dropping him off (a couple minutes late) I headed back to my polling place by the house. There, they couldn't find my name in the registrar book. So I had to fill out 3 forms explained in great detail by a woman who must have been older than Noah. Cast my ballot, only to be told that I just spent 45 minutes voting, and my vote may not count if they can't find my original registration information. Honestly.. I just got called for Jury Duty, surely they have my registration information somewhere!

So I'm now hopelessly behind schedule for the day... and decide to stop at McDonald's for a sandwich on the way to work. The moron in front of me was apparently paying for his 23.00 order in pennies and it took 15 minutes to get my food. As I pulled up to the window, the girl leans out and dumps my Mr. Pibb in my lap. This required me to go home AGAIN to change clothes.

I FINALLY get to work in time for the meeting that was planned to discuss my future in the division in light of the recent managerial changes... only to get no real answers except that there is a very good chance that I will have to report to a different supervisor. This sucks.

SO then I get work on the term paper that was due for my anthropology class tonight... on whether or not the belief in UFOs can be viewed as a religion. I end up having all sorts of problems printing it out... finally after 2 reboots get it to print... rush off to get stuck in traffic on the way, and ended up being over a half hour late for class. Have I mentioned that I had other homework due that I didn't even start?

Some where in the middle of all of this, my parents called to tell me that they lost their court case, and are now going to be held responsible for all the medical bills associated with a car accident they were involved in 3 or 4 years ago.

And.... the news of the day is that Schwarzenegger is now the governor.

I hope I go to bed tonight and wake up in Canada.

The Herps are here

2003-10-06T16:45:00.000-07:00

I've got my herps page up on the photo album now. There are a few more that need to be photographed, but it's quite a chore. *You* try to get two house geckos and a Western Fence Lizard to sit still long enough to get a good picture of them!!! It's not easy I tell you.

My house has been taken over by the cold-blooded creatures. Not to mention the crickets, mealworms, waxworms, feeder fish and other assorted prey items that we keep around.

By the way, I'm looking for a male quadricornis chameleon if anyone knows where I can find one drop me a line...

The Infamous Rat Story...

2003-10-04T02:50:00.000-07:00

For those that have never heard about it, or maybe are just reading my site for the first time, I'll preface this story by saying that this was written a couple of years ago, when I was taking night classes in San Francisco and working during the day full time. On the night in question, I had had a particulary rough day, and wanted nothing more than a bite to eat and to go to bed. As you'll see in the email I was sending to Swampie, it didn't work out quite that way...

So I drive home at 12:30...I step in the house and put some leftover pizza in the microwave... lunch was 12 hours earlier.:P Celeste comes out of her room and informs me that she discovered a RAT in her closet earlier this evening... and it was really bothering her. (not that I blame her, but it was quite amusing) Apparently the stupid thing chewed a hole in the panel giving access to the attic and dropped down onto the shelf and couldn't get down or back up.

So while I'm checking out the access panel and determining that yes, that's where the rat came in, it appears on the upper shelf, causing Celeste to scream.

Armed with a broom and standing on a chair, I am seeking to shoo the rat out of the closet and hopefully out the front door. The rat does some amazing acrobatics, and does a bannister slide down the arm of one of Celeste's jackets, and is now buried in the mess of shoes and crap in the bottom of Celeste's closet.

One must now give pause to ask a very pertinent question.... just where oh where are the trusty children at this point? My ferocious tiger, leopard, and fierce wolf? Answer: The fierce wolf and Celeste are doing that protection shuffle... everytime Celeste would put the dog between her and the closet, Echo would get behind her legs and peer out. This lasted until i suggested that Celeste stand at the ready with the broom to push the rat into the hall as I attempted to scare the rat out of the closet...that was when Celeste decided she couldn't possibly stand on the floor.. and was perched on the futon where the dog couldn't get behind her. Prince came into the room just in time to see the rat make another frantic acrobatic manuever (still in the closet)... Prince's feet didn't touch the floor for at least 4 full steps as he made a retreat into the safety of the hallway. Zipper meanwhile got one whiff of the commotion and found someplace (no doubt HIGH off the ground) to observe. She appeared about an hour after the whole thing was over.

So if you haven't gotten a mental image yet... I'm wedged in the back corner of the closet testing each shoe for rats before tossing it in to the middle of the room. Celeste is standing on the futon tenaciously hanging on to the broom... god help the rat if she actually got a chance to swing at it... god help ME if I were within broom-range. I spook the rat who runs straight at me and then across my leg, to the little space between the sliding doors on the closet. The shoe box, that I was hoping to catch the thing in didn't move quite fast enough.:P So as I'm shining a flashlight between the doors, watching this rat run up and down the HEIGHT of the doors... (vertically), Echo, the fearless, fierce hunter that she is, suddenly realizes that there is something going on.... not only is something going on, but it's going on RIGHT WHERE I AM... so now I have a VERY excited Jack Russell Terrier doing handsprings over my head and circling the door. The rat is unfazed... it's just sitting between the doors waiting for something interesting to happen.

Now, I'm still wedged into the back corner of the closet with a flashlight trained on this stupid rat who has now caused me over 20 minutes of grief. Celeste retrieved the blow dart gun from her shelf... which is only equipped with STUN darts, unfortunately.. but I'm doing my best to hold a flashlight in the crack of the doors and aim this blowgun, I guess in hopes of STUNning the rat, while the dog is basically in hysterics. Prince, by the way, is now curled up on the other end of the futon, watching us with that little smirk on his face... you know the one I mean... the one that makes me feel like my name should be Jon Arbuckle, and I'm dumber than Odie.

So I'm smacking this rat with stun darts, which is not only NOT stunning the rat, but could perhaps actually be just slightly annoying him. I could tell it was a him by this point... we have become quite acquainted, as he's facing away from me. In a last minute desperate act, I swipe the dangerous weapon from Celeste's hands (the broom) and manage to spread the space between the doors enough to insert the handle and poke the rat... This of course sends the rat and the dog, who is now barking, into equal amounts of frenzy. The rat leaps out of the space between the doors from about 3' up, directly towards Celeste who screeches, and the dog hurdles me and makes her way over to where the rat landed. The next minute or so is kinda blurry, as I'm now laughing so hard I can't see straight... what I do recall is the dog chasing the rat under the futon under a cat who has suddenly found himself between a excessively excited dog, and a terrified rat... needless to say, Prince made the right decision and moved very quickly out of the way. There was a rather umm.. meaty... crunching sound.. and the dog had a new item to play catch with... except now... as she goes running down the hall way, Celeste and I are chasing her and telling her to drop it, in hopes that it isn't being eaten in front of us, or worse yet, bleeding all over the floor. I managed to persuade Echo to take it outside where I got her to drop the now dead rat. I got a bag and put the corpse in it... and wheeled the trash out to the dumpster.. the dog however is now even more hysterical, because she knows that there was something there.. and now she can't find it... she's retracing her steps from the door to the spot where she dropped it... over and over and over...

I get out to the dumpster with the shopping cart that we use as the trash wagon... just as I throw the bag containing the dead rat into the dumpster a small brown kitten flies out from underneath the dumpster, almost sending me into cardiac arrest.

I'm now in my room typing this and trying to enjoy the twice reheated pizza while Echo is still trying to track the rat from the closet all the way to the door and back .. again and again....thinking, umm... tastes like chicken!

And how was YOUR evening?

Doing your civic duty

2003-09-30T14:09:00.000-07:00

I cannot believe the things that people will say to get out of doing jury duty. It was completely amazing. I heard everything from "I have to do an inventory at Safeway next week, and I need to prepare," to "My religion prohibits me from judging people or associating with sinners." The worst by far was the psychotherapist who couldn't sit on the DUI case because of the 'emotional torment that I am experiencing because of my work with chemically dependant patients. I couldn't possible make a fair and impartial decision regarding this case feeling as emotional and upset as I am.'

Come on!!!!

We all know that you're lying. We all know that you're giving us a big load of bullshit, and you expect us to swallow it? The worst thing is that these people get out of doing their civic duty... leaving some of the more 'unsavory' people behind to sit on the jury. Is that really a jury of your peers? The defendant was asian. The one asian man on the panel was excused during a preemptory challenge. (He couldn't sit on the jury because he's the only income in his household of six and one of only two employees at his place of business. Yawn.)

The prosecuting attorney hammered the girl next to me because she stated that she had some experience with DUI cases because her dad was an alcoholic. He wanted to know how much of a hell she had been through as a child. After that episode I caught up to her on our break. I told her I didn't think it would score the DA any points by making a juror cry. She laughed hysterically at that. She was the first to be removed from the panel.

I spent a total of 8 hours basically sitting on my ass waiting for something to happen. The DA asked me about my experiences and I think my mentioning UncleMonkeyBoi is what eventually got me kicked off. On the way to sign out, a black man that had been excused at the same time walked out with me.

He said, "I think they got rid of you because you're just too smart and eloquent."

"I think they got rid of you because you're black. They had to get rid of the asian, the black, and the fag."

He laughed and said, "You know what's really funny is that I'm a Christian minister, and you didn't hear me crying foul in the name of God. What a screwy system."

What a screwy system indeed.

California's new partners law

2003-09-22T18:44:00.000-07:00

From Yahoo News:

In a San Francisco auditorium crowded with hundreds of GLBT supporters, California Gov. Gray Davis signed a landmark law on Friday night that gives same-sex domestic partners nearly all of the rights and responsibilities granted to married couples in the state.

The new law makes California the second state in the United States, behind Vermont, to grant such legal recognition to same-sex couples.

Some of the new rights and responsibilities to be granted domestic partners in California include child custody and child and spousal support obligations, the right to make funeral arrangements, community property and spousal support, access to family court, parenthood presumptions, state court testimonial privileges, access to married student housing and mutual responsibility for debts.

The law applies only to state-level rights, not the nearly 1,000 federal protections that go along with civil marriage.

Approximately 400 people who were eager to witness history crowded into a hot auditorium at the San Francisco Lesbian Gay Bisexual Transgender Community Center for the ceremony.

Standing onstage before a huge rainbow flag, openly gay state Assemblyman Mark Leno, D-San Francisco, opened the event by remarking on the sexual and racial diversity of the crowd. "You look like George Bush's worst nightmare," he said.

He then introduced Gov. Davis as "one of the greatest heroes to this community we have ever known."

Once Davis took the stage, the signing ceremony turned into a bit of a love fest for the governor, who is facing a recall. The crowd gave Davis an extended ovation and chanted, "Three more years," signaling their opposition to the recall election, which is scheduled for next month. Gov. Davis was elected to a second term last November.

Davis spoke briefly about his support of the domestic partner legislation and reviewed his pro-gay record as governor.

"We are at our best when we respect every Californian, no matter who they are or who they love," he said.

Gov. Davis signed the sweeping bill, known as AB 205, while sharing the stage with several gay and lesbian politicians, including the bill's author, Assemblywoman Jackie Goldberg, D-Los Angeles.

Several GLBT groups hailed the new law's impact, which extends beyond the more than 20,000 registered domestic partnerships in California.

"Gov. Davis and the people of California are sending a clear message that they support family values for all families," said Geoffrey Kors, executive director of Equality California, the statewide GLBT civil rights advocacy group that sponsored AB 205.

"This is a historic day, not only for same-sex couples in California, but for every human being committed to a society that strengthens and supports families," Kate Kendell, executive director of the National Center for Lesbian Rights, said in a statement. "For decades, LGBT people have struggled to protect our relationships and our children from the devastating impact of legal discrimination. Today, the state of California has taken the long overdue step of changing the law to support, rather than harm, our families."

____

What can I say? It's about time. Now the Federal Government needs to wake up and get their head out of their collective asses. We are taxpayers, voters, and citizens. We deserve the same opportunities and liberties as everyone else under the protection of our constitution. I'm tired of people screaming about 'special rights.' It is not a special right to not be harrassed, or fired without cause, or left without any protection when our partners die.

Thank you Governor Davis.

Shiver Me Timbers, it's Stealth Disco

2003-09-19T00:39:00.000-07:00

Well, as Wil Wheaton said in his post, it's National Talk Like a Pirate Day.

Just thought I'd put that out there.

Ok... you really have to check this out. The Gee recommended it. I give it a two thumbs up. Definitely check out the "Best Of" video.

Stealth Disco

Off to silently do the the electric slide...

Strange as a 200 dollar bill

2003-09-15T00:51:00.000-07:00

Not sure which is scarier... that someone made the 200.00 bill, or that someone accepted it...

The Smoking Gun: Archive

fly around

2003-09-10T13:45:00.000-07:00

Check this out... it's pretty cool: Terrafly.

Pacific Northwest Trip

2003-09-04T00:44:00.000-07:00

If you've wondered where I have been lately, I haven't been posting because I was on a road trip. Unclemonkeyboi and I took ruben home to Oregon. We decided that we'd go by way of Seattle, since none of us had ever been.

The trip was amazing. The weather was beautiful, and even though it was Labor Day weekend, we barely saw anyone else. It was like no one else wanted to be in Washington State for Labor Day.

We met up with my friend Angela and her girlfriend Jess before going on into Seattle and meeting up with Dave. It was great to see Angela and Dave again! Dave kindly put us up for the night after showing us around town.

We took the Kingston Ferry over to the Olympic Peninsula and went on the first of several hikes into the rainforest.

After spending the night in Aberdeen Washington, we drove on to the Columbia River Scenic Park in Oregon in search of all the waterfalls.

Ruben was successfully delivered to his happy mom. I can't say that I was very happy about it, though. I'm gonna miss having him around.

UMB and I made our way back home on the 101 down the coast of Oregon and California, making pitstops along the way in the Redwood National Forest. It got too dark to find the drive through tree, but we don't live too far away, and will find it on another trip.

You can find a selection of photos of the trip on the Pacific Northwest Trip page.

Check out my photo album of Landscapes and Waterfalls for additional pictures.

creeping up on ya

2003-08-26T13:24:00.000-07:00

Just to make you feel old.

and the horse you rode in on...

2003-08-26T00:43:00.000-07:00

It's been a busy past couple of days... I built a computer for Ruben so he will have something nice for the school year. In return he has promised to send Deb and I email at least 3 times a week. I figure that will last about a week, and then we'll be lucky to get mail from him once a month. It's ok though. I'll know where he lives.:)

The Indian restaurant up the street has a stuffed horse on display. Ruben couldn't help himself.. he had to ride the horse around the place. It was quite funny. He looks to be about 10 in the picture, but he's actually 15. 16 next month!

More later, continuing my upgrade to XP and hoping that my computer runs better now.

Blogger ROCKS! Revisited...

2003-08-23T01:09:00.000-07:00

Hi Jester,

I've gone ahead and upgraded your blog to a 100-meg ftp account, here's the info:

[Secret Stuff Deleted]

I also upgraded it to BloggerPro, which has some nice features that free Blogger doesn't have (email to blog, rss feed, etc.). More details are in our knowledge base: http://help.blogger.com/

Thanks for your patience with this, and let us know if you need any further assistance!
-Eric

Again I say, That Rocks. Great customer service and a great tool. I highly recommend BLOGGER!

The Daily Blog

2003-08-21T17:07:00.000-07:00

Well, I decided to take Blogger up on their offer to move the blog to their server to abolish all the silly publication errors I was having. I think I"ll find a new webhost when my contract renews in October. I'm just not so happy with Siteturn anymore. We'll have to see. Anyway.. so here we are at the new site. I have a few bugs to work out, and will have to correct any image errors that have occured as a result of the change. When the account is upgraded, I should be able to get my "what's hot" section working again. (It's blank at the moment.)

More later!

The Zoo

2003-08-18T19:05:00.000-07:00

Unclemonkeyboi and I took Ruben to the San Francisco Zoo yesterday to celebrate Swampie's birthday. Had a great time as neither UMB or Ruben had been before, and everything was cool to them. The new monkey exhibit is really nice, and definitely check out the Lemur Island.

Afterwards, we went back to the Fitzgerald Marine Reserve to check out the tidepools. The tide was still pretty high when we got there, so we did some cliff climbing and exploring until the tide went out enough we could search for starfish. We didn't manage to find any.

Oh well.

It's been great having Ruben around. I almost feel like a dad. I took him back to school shopping over the weekend and everything. He called his mom today and got permission to stay here longer, and I'll be driving him back home to Oregon over Labor Day weekend. That should be fun.

More later...

Significant Events Report August 15, 2003

2003-08-18T15:56:00.000-07:00

Finally got this report at work finished. Check it out for the robotics article, if nothing else. Those kids are great! Read the report here:
Significant Events Report August 15, 2003

Back to work...

Photo Album

2003-08-15T02:42:00.000-07:00

I've spent several hours working on my website tonight. I start school next week, and I know that I will not get as much time to work on it during the semester. That being said, I added like six new pages to the Photo Album.

Have a look. There will be more coming. I plan to spend a lot of time on the site this weekend, tweaking and adding new pages.

Off to sleep. I have websites to create at work tomorrow.

Maybe Christian (student at work) was right today when he said I need a life. :-)

blogger rocks

2003-08-15T00:00:00.000-07:00

Ok... I know I've commented a couple of times about problems with Blogger publishing. I sent email to customer support, and even though I'm currently a free blogger user, I got a fairly quick response, and discovered that there was a somewhat simple fix to alleviate publication problems. (For the geeks reading, I had to change my host server's FTP commands to Passive) I was even offered a complimentary upgrade to blog*spot plus. I haven't had any problems tonight, and I've made about a million changes to the blog. I've got my hot links working in separate blog files (incidentally, if you click on and *buy* the item listed at left, I get some dough... and that would be super neat of you to do so...) and it looks great!

So YAY for good customer service, and a great product. Kudos! Brava! Etc etc.

Want your own blog? Get it here.

Speaking Freely

2003-08-13T23:26:00.000-07:00

Well, hopefully by the time this gets published (what's up with the blogger not publishing!?!?) the comments capability will be operational. Now you can read and talk back to me. I know, I'm asking for trouble.

Click on the plus sign and you can tell me what's on your mind.

I'll be waiting patiently for your response.

I'm holding my breath now...

not the only one

2003-08-13T02:13:00.000-07:00

I don't feel like such a moron now...
Computer Infection Snarls Global Networks.

Summer Vacation

2003-08-12T17:04:00.000-07:00

Although it's been what... 11 years since high school. I still haven't gotten over the fact that I don't get summers off. I think it should be mandatory that everyone gets their summers off to go swimming, go to the beach, just hang out with your friends and not have any responsibility. All landlords stop charging rent, banks don't require repayment, utilities are free...

I think I'm on to something here. A three-month long siesta! I wonder how much more productive we would be during the other nine months of the year, knowing we had the vacation to look forward to.

*sigh* It's been one of those days...

W32.Blaster.Worm

2003-08-12T13:17:00.000-07:00

AAArgh! I finally figured out what is wrong with my computer... (I still need a new one, but that's beside the point.) It's this stupid Blaster Worm. It infects your computer automatically, doesn't require you to open an email to get it. It then messes with all your settings, won't let you update windows, and crashes the machine. Here's some info and a fix for it. (You can see if you're infected by checking your running processes and looking for 'msblast.exe.'

Get the removal tool here:Symantec Security Response - W32.Blaster.Worm.

wonders of technology

2003-08-12T02:21:00.000-07:00

Oy, I need a new computer. This piece of shit is going to drive me insane. I need something that is powerful enough to handle 3DStudio Max, with a decent enough sound card to run my Cakewalk projects and connect to my Korg. Unfortunately I'm dead flat assed broke this month. And I still have to buy books for class! :(

I don't ask for much, but 10,000 bucks would fix everything. Anyone have a spare 10 grand lying around? No? *sigh*

I'm off to bed. If I'm lucky, the sun will forget to rise in a few hours.

wonders never cease

2003-08-11T23:47:00.000-07:00

I've been trying to write something on this blog regularly, but I'm pretty discouraged to discover that for some reason Blogger is having trouble with the publishing end of things. So I haven't written much lately. I'm hoping that they get things figured out soon, so I can get the hang of this.