1,000,000,000 songs
NY Times article | Apple’s announcement
99 cents not only bought Alex Ostrovsky a song off of iTunes, it won him an iMac, 10 (that’s right, ten!) iPods, and a $10,000 gift card to the music store – all for downloading the billionth song.
Lucky kid!
Cardinals Stop Selling Season Tickets
This is gonna suck if we don’t get to see the Cards play in their new home this year.
1 year
A lot has happened since I started on Blogger a year ago today …
- the creation of teny jr dot com
- CL and I celebrated 5 years of marriage
- got a new job
- D became a teenager
- spent my first Christmas in CT since ’97 (CL’s and D’s first with my family)
- got my new laptop
I reposted the original entries that got me to start blogging – basically me bitching about work. Since I no longer work there, I felt it was ok to put them back in (names were changed to protect others).
A total of 283 posts, and I don’t plan on stopping.
patience
It’s been a trying day. Some realizations …
- the customer isn’t always right
- never assume anything
- I’m losing my patience with certain people
This week has been rough, and I wonder if I’m going to lose it again.
update 022106
Weird day at the helpdesk. Got all kinds of weird calls, and I felt befuddled. I’m glad it calmed down as the work day came to a close.
I’m enjoying the new laptop. I’m still trying to get used to it, as opposed to the main family PC. I like the keyboard very much, but the touchpad is not as easy as I thought it would be; a wireless mouse for my birthday might be good.
I’ve finished transferring the majority of my files to the laptop. The next big project I’ve got is upgrading to WordPress 2.0.1. After the upgrade, I’ll revise the blog’s theme.
I’m giving up the iPod for Lent. I’m in the process of converting certain AAC files to MP3′s. This way, I can still use my smaller MP3 player. Now some may think this is cheating. I didn’t say I was giving up music; just the pod itself. I take it everywhere I go, and it has well over 10 gigs of music. And I’m also losing the best feature – the smart playlist. My other MP3 player doesn’t even support playlists. That’s gonna suck. I’m gonna have to start listening to “albums” again.
Monday’s “hour” of 24 was another dull one for me. Too much indecision from the President, a lot of sneaking around behind the boss’s back at CTU (that happens a lot), and not enough Jack. When Jack did show up, he knocked out his fellow CTU agent Curtis and took out 2 bad guys and a helicopter with no more than his pistol.
Just finished watching the ladies on American Idol. A few good performances, but I couldn’t tell you who. Also saw Italy’s Enrico Fabris take the gold from Shani Davis and Chad Hedrick in 1500m speed skating. That might teach someone to keep their mouth shut.
february imix
what’s rockin’ the pod:
Who Says You Can’t Go Home – Bon Jovi
Seven Nation Army – The White Stripes
The Wake-Up Bomb – R.E.M.
I Got S**t – Pearl Jam
Heaven Beside You – Alice In Chains
Remedy – The Black Crowes
If you use iTunes, get the mix.
update 021906
The M140 features:
Intel Pentium M 740
Windows XP Media Center
1 GB RAM
80 GB HDD
DVD burner
I’m currently trying to remove all the “crap” Dell preloaded it with, then add the apps I want to have on it.
Been enjoying the Olympics, but does it all have to be on at primetime? They stretch it so late that I’m so tired the next day. And in the age of the internet, it’s very easy to get realtime results of big events taped to be shown later that night. On several occasions I’ve already known the outcome, and the anticipation is gone.
4 degrees. 10 below wind chill. Yeah, it’s cold here.
my new toy
Dell XPS M140
My new laptop arrived Friday! A very special “Thank You” to my family for this Christmas gift!
major bummer
Talk about a letdown. I’ve been expecting to receive my new laptop by the end of this week. Tracking the status of my order on Dell’s website, I found I misread the estimated ship date. I thought the ship date was Monday the 13th; it’s actually Monday the 20th. So I have to wait at least 7 more days.
All they gotta do is put it in the box and on the truck!
the joy of 24
24 is a fantastic show. Full of action and suspense, it’s like watching a 24-hour movie (with commercials). The heart of the show is Kiefer Sutherland and his portrayal of CTU agent Jack Bauer. Jack Bauer kicks ass. Not everyone loves Jack. But I do. I strongly recommend watching Seasons 1 through 4, and if you can, watch 5 as it happens; if you’re behind, go to Fox’s website for an episode guide to get up to speed.
Check out Michael Sean’s Jack Bauer Body Count (warning: spoilers ahead). Very funny episode recap from a true Jack Bauer fan.
the flying tomato wins gold
Shaun White, heavily favored to win in Torino, nearly missed making the finals. But he set the pace, and no one could catch him. “Il Pomodoro Volante” took the gold. A bright spot on a mediocre day for the US.
update 021206
Congratulations to Chad Hedrick on winning gold in the 5000m!
I have a new doctor now, and I had my first physical in 7 years. This doctor is big on preventive medicine, and he’s very thorough. His diagnosis – I’m a healthy 33 yr old with a little bursitis in my knee.
It’s finally been winterlike here; temps in the 30′s. January was unusually mild (avg temp in mid 50′s). All we want is some decent snowfall; wouldn’t mind one storm like the one they’re getting back home.
Ordered my new PC yesterday. Due to the constantly changing deals by Dell, I opted for the XPS M140 instead of the Inspiron 6000. Surprisingly, the powerful M140 is more affordable than the 6000 after I customized them with the features I want. I went back and forth between the two many times before finally weighing the pros and cons. And the M140 won decisively. I should be receiving it this week. I’m trying to contain my excitement, but it’s difficult. 
the world according to …
Some interesting facts about the ruthless hero of 24:
If you wake up in the morning, it’s because Jack Bauer spared your life.
Jack Bauer doesn’t miss. If he didn’t hit you it’s because he was shooting at another terrorist twelve miles away.
Jack Bauer once forgot where he put his keys. He then spent the next half-hour torturing himself until he gave up the location of the keys.
Jack Bauer does not sleep. The only rest he needs is what he gets when he’s knocked out or temporarily killed.
Everytime Jack Bauer yells “NOW!” at the end of a sentence, a terrorist dies.
If Jack Bauer had been on Oceanic 815 there would be no Lost.
For the complete list, go here.
the world according to …
Some interesting facts about the ruthless hero of 24:
If you wake up in the morning, it’s because Jack Bauer spared your life.
Jack Bauer doesn’t miss. If he didn’t hit you it’s because he was shooting at another terrorist twelve miles away.
Jack Bauer once forgot where he put his keys. He then spent the next half-hour torturing himself until he gave up the location of the keys.
Jack Bauer does not sleep. The only rest he needs is what he gets when he’s knocked out or temporarily killed.
Everytime Jack Bauer yells “NOW!” at the end of a sentence, a terrorist dies.
If Jack Bauer had been on Oceanic 815 there would be no Lost.
For the complete list, go here.
Pittsburgh 21, Seattle 10
Congrats to Bill Cowher and the Pittsburgh Steelers on winning Super Bowl XL. It was a sloppy game with sloppy officiating. Seattle was robbed on several occasions and it probably made the difference. But Pittsburgh made the bigger plays, and that’s why they’re holding the Lombardi trophy.
The commercials weren’t that great either. My favorites? The cell phone with “crime deterrent” from Sprint, and the young clydesdale for Budweiser.
super bowl sunday
Went to Walmart for a few items this morning, and upon leaving, my car wouldn’t start. Dead battery. CL showed up, and I tried jumping it, but no luck. We went to the garage at Walmart, and the guy told me they were short-staffed at the time but it would get done. The problem was my car was sitting in the main lot, and he didn’t have anyone to bring the car to the garage. So he had me choose a battery, pay for it, and he would come out with me to the car and replace the battery. Not even 15 minutes later, he had the new battery in and the car was running again. I couldn’t thank him enough for stopping to help. I always hated Walmart’s customer service (their “happy face” campaign is a bunch of BS). But this guy went above and beyond to help me out, and God knows I greatly appreciate good customer service.
Super Bowl Sunday.
CL and me in front of the TV.
CL’s gumbo!
I hope for a good game and good commercials.
I say Pittsburgh over Seattle, 30-21.
Enjoy the game!
update 020406
This week at work was busier than usual for me with my partner being sick. I actually played “tech” a few times because our guys have been swamped. I also learned a few new things along the way.
Our trainer Joanne retired this week after 20+ years with the organization. She was very tearful in saying goodbye to everyone. Her family threw her a surprise retirement party last night; the IT department was invited. We were glad to see her all smiles this time; she was happy to see everyone in there. However, a handful of us were starving and wanted “real food”. So, one by one, we filtered out and headed to Lottawata Creek. As bad as that sounds, Joanne had a lot of people to see and chat and be with; this group needed to get away. It was a good opportunity for the rest of us to hang out and talk about “things”, to clear the air and vent freely without others around (IT still has issues). It was a very good evening, and we all hope to get together again soon.
