Friday, July 27, 2007

Free air for me!

I promise, this will be the last time I mention it. You guys are probably getting a bit bored of me yammering about the cost of gas station air compressor use. But I will celebrate here for five minutes, then speak of it no more. I got to use it for free! HeatherB was right, in California you are entitled to free use of the air and water pumps if you are a gas station customer. I read somewhere that you have to spend at least a dollar. So even if they don’t have any snacks you want, that’s like, what, .000005 gallons of gas?

Before I pumped the gas, I confirmed with the attendant that I could fill up my tires if I paid for some gas. She said yes. So I filled up my tank (three whole gallons since I filled up not too long ago), and finally got to pump some air into my tires, yay! I could feel the difference in steering afterwards. So there you go, if you live in CA or visit sometime, you don’t have to pay the ridiculous 75 cents to pump up your tires.

One other thing, today is the next-to-last day that I have to do the work of three people. One of my team members is coming back Tuesday, so I can finally breathe a little easier and post a little more regularly. They posted the job opening for the guy who left, but it’ll still be at least 2-3 months before they actually get a butt in that seat. Maybe I’ll apply for it. It’s a step up from my current position since the guy who left was a senior whatchamacallit, which, according to that job description they put up, makes me a junior whatchamacallit. Junior. Where’s my baby food? Wah.

Monday, July 23, 2007

Forehead vs. Metal Door

Who do you think won that bout? I like to think it was a draw. No blood was drawn, but I did get quite a fierce bump on my head. I checked the door for a matching dent, but found none. I’m pretty sure the door is hurting on the inside though.

And in other news, it rained this morning!  For all of five minutes. It was just enough to make me smile and snuggle deeper into bed. It was also just enough to make the dust on my car really stand out. Gah.

Finally, I am total loser in my quest for cheaper air pump for my tires. I went to a different gas station with cheaper prices this morning, and it was 75 cents! I was flabbergasted. So I said, “Oh hell no” and went back to the other place where I first saw the 50 cent air/water pump. Would you believe that pump is now sporting a shiny new red sign proclaiming that it was 75 cents to pump air and water there too? WTF?? Needless to say I left again, on principle, without touching any of my quarters. HeatherB mentioned something about a California law stating that you can request a gas station turn on the air pump for you after purchasing something there.  I’m going to have to look into that, because I refuse to pay close to a dollar for a few measly minutes of air pumping.

Friday, July 20, 2007

Paying for air

I’ve been meaning to put some air into my tires. They’re not flat or anything, but keeping your tires well inflated improves your gas mileage. I finally remembered to stop by a gas station this morning and parked in front of the water/air station. (This is after parking in front of the propane dispensing station and staring at the tank for a while, searching for the air hose. It was before breakfast, okay?)

I got out of the car and approached the air hose, quarter in hand. Imagine my surprise when the little label said it now cost 50 cents! What?? When the heck did this happen? Fifty cents for five minutes of water and air? What happened to 25 cents? What happened to free for that matter? I remember when it cost nothing to use a gas station’s air pump. Damn money grubbers.

In protest I kept my quarters and left the station. I’m going to try someplace else near my house where the gas is less expensive. My mom still has access to free air pump use, but that’s because it’s on a Navy base (one of the perks of having been married to a Navyman).  Any of you still have free air and water pumps at the gas station where you are?

Thursday, July 19, 2007

Overheard at the office

The dress code around here is “business casual” except for Fridays. This means no suits are necessary, but you still have to be kinda dressy for business. Yesterday I overheard this exchange…

Coworker 1: Heyyy… are those jeans?
Coworker 2: No of course not! They’re… jean-shaped pants!
Coworker 1: Ah, I see, faux jeans.
Coworker 2: Exactly.

Wednesday, July 18, 2007

Switching versions of Java when you can't access browser settings

I’m about to launch into a long littany of geek-speak, so forgive me. This post is mostly for my future reference should I ever encounter the problem again and can’t remember how I fixed it.

At the office, the folks in IT don’t trust anyone to control their own browser settings, so they’ve locked it down. I can’t even make my browser display ALT text for images. It’s annoying, but for the most part not essential to my job. Except for one thing. An application we use to manage web content runs on Java. It’s optimized for MS Java.  Sun Java will run it, but if I navigate away from it, the stupid thing shuts down.  I have to go back and relaunch the application. Totally irritating!

Yesterday they finally got around to installing SP2 on my computer (this was released, what, 3 years ago?), which caused my browser to default to Sun Java.  Having to relaunch the same application so many times because it keeps closing itself is not exactly an effecient way to work. I have to change a browser setting to make it use MS Java instead of Sun, but I couldn’t because they made it inacessible to us. Fortunately I was still able to access the registry and make changes there.

Editing the registry is an excellent way to get around stupid lockdowns, but it can be a little dangerous. Always proceed with caution. To force your browser to use MS Java instead of Sun Java…

1. Go to Start > Run and type “regedit” (without the quotes).
2. Navigate through the folder structure to HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\Software\JavaSoft\Java Web Start
3. Look at the value for CurrentVersion. (Mine says 1.5.0_04, yours is likely different)
4. Now go to HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\Software\JavaSoft\Java Plug-in and open the folder that corresponds with the value you noted above.
5. Double-click on UseJava2IExplorer and change that value to 0.

If you are trying to do the opposite, namely switch from MS Java to Sun Java, then change that UseJava2IExplorer value to 1 instead of 0.  That should do it! The next time you open your browser this setting change will take effect. (NOTE: These instructions are for Windows XP. It is likely the same for Windows 2000, but I have no idea about Windows Vista.)

Monday, July 16, 2007

I'd like to order an extra weekend please, thank you

I’m tired. I’ve felt like a wet noodle all day long today. Weekends are too damn short.

Speaking of weekends, I got to test drive the Mini Cooper S yesterday! I didn’t even switch on the radio.  I should have spent more time examining the controls and the dashboard and stuff since the layout was very strange (like an airplane cockpit, complete with switches instead of buttons), but all that you can get used to.  I was mainly concerned about how the car handled and performed, and most of all if I could get used to driving a 6-speed manual transmission. I can’t be coveting something that I can’t drive well, now can I?

It’s been about 6 years since I last drove a stick, so I was a bit apprehensive. I didn’t want to embarrass myself by killing the engine just trying to get out of the parking lot. Well I didn’t, whew. It was a bit jerky at first—a combination of me being rusty and it being a new car I’ve never driven before. But after I shifted into second, it was like remembering how to ride a bike. “Oh yeah, this is how you do it!”

It was pretty fun. That little thing can zip. I love zippy. My first car was a Honda Civic base model, with the smallest, cheapest engine possible. It was the opposite of zip. I like to joke that, with the AC on, I could go zero to 60 in about a minute. Not the Cooper S. It knew how to get up and go. Sure a lot of cars can do this, but can those cars do that and get 29 mpg city and 36 mpg highway? Not likely.

Thinking about it gives me a little bit more energy on this lackluster day. I could use a little zoom to get through today.

Thursday, July 12, 2007

Zoom Zoom

What is it about human nature that makes us covet what we don’t have? I often get very complacent, which is definitely good for my pocketbook. Yes there’s an Xbox 360 somewhere out there with my name on it, but I’m still happy with my old Xbox. There are newer faster computers, but my 5-year-old machine still does what I need and is completely problem free.

Last year I paid off my car and did a little happy dance at no more car payments. I am in the clear and the car still runs great. But… why oh why must there be a but? I’ve been coveting. I’ve gone to the miniusa.com site and built this sweet piece of machinery:

Is it not a thing of beauty? One day, my darling Mini Cooper S, you will be mine…

Monday, July 09, 2007

Warning: This blog may pervert your children (and some small animals)

Apparently my blog is not suitable for anyone under 17 due to certain words that were picked up by their blog scanner. It found “crap” five times, “hell” three times, “fucking” twice, and “lesbian” once. Wow I must be hardcore. If you look at NC-17 movies there tends to be more nudity than plot, and maybe enough foul language to shame a gangster.

Let’s review. So I guess “crap” is inappropriate language? Or is it because they found it five times on the front page? Well, more now that this post is up. Perhaps “shit” would be more appropriate? No probably not. Or would be better if it came from an animal, like “bullshit”?

Okay I’ll admit, “fucking” is a pretty naughty word. But it’s usually used in anger, like “What a fucking moron!” It’s found in quite a few R rated movies. It’s not like I said “I was fucking a horse” for crying out loud. (Oops, I just said it.)

What must have pushed me over the edge into the land of NC-17 was the word “lesbian”. I mean obviously if I use the word lesbian it must be about porn, right? Yeah, I’m a nasty, nasty girl. Keep your children and pets away from me. My blog is pure evil. Fear me.

Friday, July 06, 2007

Why do I hear Taps in the background?

Well, today is the guy’s last day. Everyone’s come buy to wish him well and he’s just been grinning the whole time. What nerve. Doesn’t he know that he’s supposed to help make life easier for ME?? Why’d he have to go and find a better job seven minutes from his house anyway?

So anyway, we’re all going to have a big lunch later. No doubt the conversation will be about him and his cushy new managerial job. Oh I’m sure there will be talk about me and the remaining web team member, but it will mostly be things like, “You guys are gonna miss him, aren’t you?” Well… sure. We’ll miss him taking his share of the workload. So next week the madness begins.

Oh and you know what else I found out? In two weeks that remaining team member is going to be out for three weeks for back surgery.  The man won’t even be in the country. The enormity hasn’t quite hit me yet. So it’s… enough work for three people… all loaded onto me. Please kill me now.

Tuesday, July 03, 2007

Getting in touch with my inner geek

Yesterday I searched around online for a reasonably priced repair shop for my ailing Xbox. Most of them seem to cost $75 or more. I seem to recall paying about $150 or less for my Xbox when it was new (in 2004), so I shopped around for a new one. I could not find one! There were used and refurbished ones everywhere, but no brand new ones. What the hell? Did those bastards discontinue making them? I was quite peeved. I am NOT shelling out $300-$400 for an Xbox 360. There are still plenty of original Xbox games that I haven’t played yet, and I can get them for a third of the price of the 360 games.

So anyway, after all this browsing around, I found tons of resources for fixing your own Xbox. One person said if you’re familiar with poking around a PC, you’ll do fine poking around an Xbox. I felt emboldened by this (after being disheartened at the disconinuation of the Xbox). I thought to myself, “Hey, I’m technically inclined, I’ve added and removed hardware from my PC, and the damn thing is out of warranty anyway. What will it hurt?”

So I went to my local Fry’s Electronics and picked up one of these:

It’s a torx tool, which is similar to allen keys, only the head is shaped differently. If that sentence sounded like Swahili to you, it’s a type of screwdriver, for screws with specialty heads. Instead of a flat line or a Phillips “plus” shape, the slots for these stupid screws are shaped like asterisks. Wikipedia says it’s because it causes less slippage, but I personally think it’s to make it harder for just anyone to open the console. Why else would they hide six screws under stickers and rubber feet?

So anyway, I’m using this guide to help me correctly open the thing without tearing pieces off like a frustrated gorilla. After cleaning the lens to the DVD drive, my Xbox plays games again! Unfortunately it still makes lots of weird accessing sounds and takes longer to load, so I think it’s on its way out. I’ve ordered a replacement DVD drive, so when that gets here I’m going to flex my geek muscles and refurbish my own Xbox, yippee!

Monday, July 02, 2007

Bad Xbox! Bad!

My Xbox died this weekend, waaaaahhhh! It was working just fine on Saturday, then yesterday, for no apparent reason, it just stopped reading the disc. I was in the middle of a game, it was trying to load a scene, and it suddenly tells me that my disc is dirty. Say what? I don’t think so. Unlike the multitudes of of slimy-fingered game console owners who also play frisbee with their discs, my games are immaculate. No smudges and no scratches.

I thought maybe it was because the lens was dirty. My computer’s DVD burner has needed cleaning in the past. However after doing some online research, I think it may be the DVD drive going bad. I thought about cracking the thing open and trying to clean it myself, but after viewing online guides and the special tools needed, forget it. Microsoft definitely made it very difficult to open the damn thing. I’d have to buy some kind of Torx tool, and not only that I’d have to figure out what to clean once I was inside. I might be better off sending it off for repair, or maybe getting a new one if repair is more than $50.

So what do I do until then? I dunno, I might have to, like, read a book or something!

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