Teslafreak’s blog

Well, I am getting much worse at keeping this thing active, but this time I have an excuse!  You see, my computer has actually been dead for a few weeks now.  I kinda thought I had already put that here, but I guess not.  I went to power it up one day, and it doesn't.  It is difficult at this time to know whether it is power supply or motherboard/CPU, given some of the circumstance, they are both likely candidates.  The MB, the PSU, and the CPU are all under extended warranties from the somewhat defunct CompUSA.  By somewhat I mean that there is no store for me to go sort this out at, but they didn't leave everyone hanging.  An insurance company still covers the components, and is arranging to sort this out for me.  They are going to just reimburse me the cost of the components, since they no longer make the board that I am using, and I pointed out that I have specific needs.

Anyhow, been without it for a few weeks now, and it will still be bricked for a few weeks more I suspect.

In work related news, there are changes upon us.  Two of our four full timers are gone, one of which was also a higher up.  One left to pursue other work entirely, and their last day was yesterday.  The other will still be in the company, just no longer at our location.  Out understanding is that their last day would be a week or so out, but they got a call saying that today is effectively their last day.

I applied to take up one of those full time positions, and am told I will have a good grasp of whether or not I got it by tommorow.  I am somewhat nervous about this for a number of reasons, not the least of which is my ankle.  For those who are unaware, I have messed up ankles (and practically every other joint, but the ankles are key here).  I have made great strides in building up endurance to be able to work on my feet and still manage it.  However, it does mean that I can't be on my feet too much in a given day/week/period of time without running into some pretty severe problems.  My hope is that with the full time position, there will be some changes that will allow me to spend a bit more time at a desk, and I am told that may well be the case.

Well, I am getting much worse at keeping this thing active, but this time I have an excuse!  You see, my computer has actually been dead for a few weeks now.  I kinda thought I had already put that here, but I guess not.  I went to power it up one day, and it doesn't.  It is difficult at this time to know whether it is power supply or motherboard/CPU, given some of the circumstance, they are both likely candidates.  The MB, the PSU, and the CPU are all under extended warranties from the somewhat defunct CompUSA.  By somewhat I mean that there is no store for me to go sort this out at, but they didn't leave everyone hanging.  An insurance company still covers the components, and is arranging to sort this out for me.  They are going to just reimburse me the cost of the components, since they no longer make the board that I am using, and I pointed out that I have specific needs.

Anyhow, been without it for a few weeks now, and it will still be bricked for a few weeks more I suspect.

In work related news, there are changes upon us.  Two of our four full timers are gone, one of which was also a higher up.  One left to pursue other work entirely, and their last day was yesterday.  The other will still be in the company, just no longer at our location.  Out understanding is that their last day would be a week or so out, but they got a call saying that today is effectively their last day.

I applied to take up one of those full time positions, and am told I will have a good grasp of whether or not I got it by tommorow.  I am somewhat nervous about this for a number of reasons, not the least of which is my ankle.  For those who are unaware, I have messed up ankles (and practically every other joint, but the ankles are key here).  I have made great strides in building up endurance to be able to work on my feet and still manage it.  However, it does mean that I can't be on my feet too much in a given day/week/period of time without running into some pretty severe problems.  My hope is that with the full time position, there will be some changes that will allow me to spend a bit more time at a desk, and I am told that may well be the case.

Well, I am getting much worse at keeping this thing active, but this time I have an excuse!  You see, my computer has actually been dead for a few weeks now.  I kinda thought I had already put that here, but I guess not.  I went to power it up one day, and it doesn't.  It is difficult at this time to know whether it is power supply or motherboard/CPU, given some of the circumstance, they are both likely candidates.  The MB, the PSU, and the CPU are all under extended warranties from the somewhat defunct CompUSA.  By somewhat I mean that there is no store for me to go sort this out at, but they didn't leave everyone hanging.  An insurance company still covers the components, and is arranging to sort this out for me.  They are going to just reimburse me the cost of the components, since they no longer make the board that I am using, and I pointed out that I have specific needs.

Anyhow, been without it for a few weeks now, and it will still be bricked for a few weeks more I suspect.

In work related news, there are changes upon us.  Two of our four full timers are gone, one of which was also a higher up.  One left to pursue other work entirely, and their last day was yesterday.  The other will still be in the company, just no longer at our location.  Out understanding is that their last day would be a week or so out, but they got a call saying that today is effectively their last day.

I applied to take up one of those full time positions, and am told I will have a good grasp of whether or not I got it by tommorow.  I am somewhat nervous about this for a number of reasons, not the least of which is my ankle.  For those who are unaware, I have messed up ankles (and practically every other joint, but the ankles are key here).  I have made great strides in building up endurance to be able to work on my feet and still manage it.  However, it does mean that I can't be on my feet too much in a given day/week/period of time without running into some pretty severe problems.  My hope is that with the full time position, there will be some changes that will allow me to spend a bit more time at a desk, and I am told that may well be the case.

Well, I am getting much worse at keeping this thing active, but this time I have an excuse!  You see, my computer has actually been dead for a few weeks now.  I kinda thought I had already put that here, but I guess not.  I went to power it up one day, and it doesn't.  It is difficult at this time to know whether it is power supply or motherboard/CPU, given some of the circumstance, they are both likely candidates.  The MB, the PSU, and the CPU are all under extended warranties from the somewhat defunct CompUSA.  By somewhat I mean that there is no store for me to go sort this out at, but they didn't leave everyone hanging.  An insurance company still covers the components, and is arranging to sort this out for me.  They are going to just reimburse me the cost of the components, since they no longer make the board that I am using, and I pointed out that I have specific needs.

Anyhow, been without it for a few weeks now, and it will still be bricked for a few weeks more I suspect.

In work related news, there are changes upon us.  Two of our four full timers are gone, one of which was also a higher up.  One left to pursue other work entirely, and their last day was yesterday.  The other will still be in the company, just no longer at our location.  Out understanding is that their last day would be a week or so out, but they got a call saying that today is effectively their last day.

I applied to take up one of those full time positions, and am told I will have a good grasp of whether or not I got it by tommorow.  I am somewhat nervous about this for a number of reasons, not the least of which is my ankle.  For those who are unaware, I have messed up ankles (and practically every other joint, but the ankles are key here).  I have made great strides in building up endurance to be able to work on my feet and still manage it.  However, it does mean that I can't be on my feet too much in a given day/week/period of time without running into some pretty severe problems.  My hope is that with the full time position, there will be some changes that will allow me to spend a bit more time at a desk, and I am told that may well be the case.

Well, I am getting much worse at keeping this thing active, but this time I have an excuse!  You see, my computer has actually been dead for a few weeks now.  I kinda thought I had already put that here, but I guess not.  I went to power it up one day, and it doesn't.  It is difficult at this time to know whether it is power supply or motherboard/CPU, given some of the circumstance, they are both likely candidates.  The MB, the PSU, and the CPU are all under extended warranties from the somewhat defunct CompUSA.  By somewhat I mean that there is no store for me to go sort this out at, but they didn't leave everyone hanging.  An insurance company still covers the components, and is arranging to sort this out for me.  They are going to just reimburse me the cost of the components, since they no longer make the board that I am using, and I pointed out that I have specific needs.

Anyhow, been without it for a few weeks now, and it will still be bricked for a few weeks more I suspect.

In work related news, there are changes upon us.  Two of our four full timers are gone, one of which was also a higher up.  One left to pursue other work entirely, and their last day was yesterday.  The other will still be in the company, just no longer at our location.  Out understanding is that their last day would be a week or so out, but they got a call saying that today is effectively their last day.

I applied to take up one of those full time positions, and am told I will have a good grasp of whether or not I got it by tommorow.  I am somewhat nervous about this for a number of reasons, not the least of which is my ankle.  For those who are unaware, I have messed up ankles (and practically every other joint, but the ankles are key here).  I have made great strides in building up endurance to be able to work on my feet and still manage it.  However, it does mean that I can't be on my feet too much in a given day/week/period of time without running into some pretty severe problems.  My hope is that with the full time position, there will be some changes that will allow me to spend a bit more time at a desk, and I am told that may well be the case.  I am also hoping for a bit of a raise, though it hasn't been discussed.  The only real downside here is the sheer number of time that I spend away from home.  An 8 hour today for me means between 10 and 12 hours away from home in commute and waiting (since I carpool).  Unfortunately there really isn't a job market closer to where I live though, and I like my job anyway.

I am worried that two full time, well trained, good workers leaving us will mess things up for awhile, but we shall see.  On top of that, i'm not psyched to see them go, they are both awesome people.  Still, I wish them both good luck in their new jobs.

Other then that, there isn't a bunch to speak of.  Programming isn't really happening, since I am borrowing my brother's laptop and it doesn't have all my tools (not to mention, it isn't as nice to program on a smaller then full-size keyboard).  Hopefully my computer will be up within a few weeks.  Since I gotta buy new components entirely, I am looking to upgrade it, I just am not sure which route to look down.  I have historically been really fond of AMD, but I am told that Intel is just plain running circles around them right now.  Come on AMD, I defend you guys all the time, make me proud!

Also, what the heck PoE2?  Haven't heard from you in a good long time dude.  Hope all is well.  That time is closing in pretty quick these days it seems.

It's tough to figure out how I feel about work these days.  It's been rather slow for about a week now, which is pretty cool, but then it changes what I am supposed to do.  Some days i'm pretty happy to go in, some not so much.  At least I have good co-workers to talk to.

I still play WoW, but not as much lately.  I have a lvl 26 paladin and a lvl 10 hunter, and a level 6 warlock.  I want to play more, but i'm so tired lately, that it gets repetitious really fast.  Which brings me to my next point.

I am REALLY tired lately.  I think I am sleeping okay, but it doesn't seem to matter.  Unless I keep very busy, I get tired.  I'm talking haven't slept in a few days tired.  I am kinda wondering if I am sick with some sort of cough or flu or something, since I hear it is going around.

All programming is halted.  I was doing a project for someone, but I let them know I couldn't make their deadline, and asked if they wanted me to continue anyway, and they never wrote back.  Being that I have nothing that is in a hurry anymore, I am kinda taking a break.

I haven't done any work on my website in months... I am thinking about picking that up again.

OH!  One more thing.  I have a new gun on layaway.  It will be a few months before I have it, but I am excited.  I also went shooting last weekend, and did much better then the time before.  Personally I chalk it up to caffeine.  The time before I had a monster energy drink on the way into shooting, and I think it gave me jitters which threw off my aim.  This time I didn't have any caffeine the day I was going shooting, and did very well.  I can't wait to get my new rifle, it's going to be wicked.

Well, I have work tommorow, and still have work to do before I go to bed.  Later.

So, i'm back playing World of Warcraft again (level 15 blood elf paladin).  I am also back to significant levels of caffeine (the two notes are unrelated though).

Things are kinda stressful for a number of reasons, which I won't go in to.

I am also working on some programming stuff.

So now you know.

So, on Wednesday night I was using my computer and it's performance was awful.  Figuring maybe I had a runaway process (it happens, some of my programs are prone to it), I decided to reboot.

Windows never booted back up.

Oh well, I decided to use my Linux partition until I was able to re-install Windows.  No such luck.  Also wouldn't boot. 

Uh-oh.

So instead I ran MHDD on my primary drive, and the results were less then spectacular.  It wasn't dead, but it has several warnings that come up.  The primary hard drive is over 5 years old though, and sees constant use.  So I guess I should have seen it coming.  I replaced them both ((2) 80 GB WD Caviar IDE drives) with a Seagate 500 GB SATA.  I have also managed to pull most of my data off the old ones through use of an IDE to USB drive enclosure.

The really weird thing is that the newer of my old drives appears in worse shape.  Everything on the primary (bad) drive seems to have been recovered fine.  On the secondary however, one entire partition seems to have killed itself.  That or I am missing something.  Not sure which.

Anyhow, the computer is running again, infact most stuff is already re-installed too.  I am seriously considering throwing more RAM in while I am at this.  It only has 512 MB, I want to bring that up to at least 1.5 GB, maybe it's full 4 if RAM is cheap enough.

Oh and PoE2, sorry, I haven't sent out that letter to you yet, I imagine I will soon.  I'm just trying to remember which address it is I send to now.

Those of you who know me, know that I actually have made efforts to cut down on caffeine as much as I can.  For awhile, I was doing very well.  Not so much these days.

I started drinking again when I got a job, since it involved a massive overhaul to my sleeping schedule.  Then, I started noticing that even on my new schedule, I am still rather tired.  The thing is, I know that it is partly due to the caffeine.  It doesn't matter though, because I also know that when you decide to cut off of caffeine, you get really tired for a good solid few weeks while your body gets used to not having it.  That isn't something I can afford to do.

I get the impression that caffeine is a huge problem.  Worse really then anything else.  I mean, obviously fat intake is a huge issue (pardon the pun there) in America, but look at caffeine consumption.  We even add it to candy now.  There is a lot of debate over how bad it is for you, but I don't think there is any question that it is indeed bad for you.

I know that it does all kinds of bad to me.  I can't sleep when I want to.  It makes it significantly harder to concentrate (which is not something I need).  Lastly, it gives me high acidity sometimes.

I think my best bet may well be to just bite the bullet and ween off it again.

Anyway, in other news.  Not much is going on.  Work is still fine, perhaps even better in some cases (since I am starting to get more comfortable with handling things).  Programming is slow.  I am working on some plans for a new project.  I am having a difficult time figuring out how to pursue it though.  Some of the tools I thought about using don't work real well in Windows as it turns out.  Lastly, I am still sick, but not as much so.

I've been yo-yoing more.  I still don't have any great tricks down, but I am getting better at binding, and that is important.

I'm not entirely sure what to even say at this point.  I figured I should probably do something though, since I don't get a ton of time to post here anymore it seems.

It is a bit too early to tell at this point, but I think I may be coming down with the flu for the first time in many years.  I pretty much feel like trash all around.  The flu doesn't really scare me, but it's habit of developing into bronchitis does.  I am hoping that doesn't happen.

Work is getting less good.  I'm not going to get into specifics (because most businesses don't appreciate it), but some recent developments have just made things less pleasant.  Oh well.

I haven't done a great deal of programming lately, and figure that it may suffer more if I actually do come down with the flu.

On the bright side, I just got this really wicked little leather jotter.  Perhaps I will post pictures tomorow or something.