Archive for January, 2007

Good Job Dell

Published at January 31, 2007 in Technology. 4 Comments

I got a Dell laptop computer a little over a month ago. Along with it came a free upgrade to a comparable version of Windows Vista to the Windows XP version I ordered. That was pretty cool I thought, so I followed the steps to register. I got an email that essentially said that my registration was received and would be contacted if they needed any information. That’s the last I heard from Dell.

Since Windows Vista was released yesterday, I got a bit curious as to how I would redeem this upgrade. After some searching (only after trying to find anything official on Dell’s site), I found that the upgrade site is dellvistaupgrade.com. Well, it appears as though their planning went something like “Not many people will want to upgrade, so let’s put the site on that old server in the corner there.” Yeah, the site is impossible to reach.

Not that I’m over anxious about Windows Vista, but I’ve kind of been holding off putting software on the computer to avoid doing it all over again. So here I sit, waiting on Dell. Fun times.

A Fun Social Experiment

Published at January 31, 2007 in Observations. 1 Comment

You know how sometimes a funny thought pops into your head and it makes you grin, and sometimes laugh a little? That happens to me sometimes at work, when I’m walking by myself, but in the midst of other people. My natural reaction is to fight the grin and try to act like I’m not a crazy person laughing at nothing. However, when I don’t try to hide the grin, it’s more fun.

Some people kind of grin as well like they know you’re up to something, and they sort of want in on it. Others get a little paranoid like you are laughing at something you saw them do or something you know that you aren’t telling them. The mood suddenly changes for most people who notice that I have a mischievous grin on my face. Try it out, it’s fun. The best way to handle people who try to figure out what you’re grinning about is just brushing it off, keep them confused.

Split Second Thoughts

Published at January 30, 2007 in Random. 1 Comment

Human brains are neat. Every now and then, my brain will come up with something clever, but within a second of the thought, reality kicks in. Two examples for ya (both happened whilst driving for some reason):

1) A friend of mine was driving his car when he saw a car hauling trailer (one of those two layer trailers that can carry 10 or so cars) and right away thought he could use it to launch real far! For just that split second, he thought it would work out great. He did come to, and didn’t jump.

2) Another friend was driving when he realized that his gas gauge hadn’t moved in a long while. He figured it must be broken. Right then his brain told him “Hey, I never have to pay for gas again!” Like the first example, he immediately laughed at himself for even thinking of such a ridiculous idea.

I think things like that make life more fun. It happens to me from time to time, but I can’t think of anything right now.

Music and People

Published at January 16, 2007 in Music and Observations. 1 Comment

There are two types of people; music people, and non-music people.

Here’s how I see it. I’m a music person. I dig music. I dig good music. I have my ideas as to what good music sounds like and what makes bad music. I’ve made the appropriate changes in my life to try and avoid bad music, indulge in good music, and try to find more good music constantly. I feel I’ve done fine, my ears are satisfied. If you are curious as to my taste in music, here’s a sample.

Is the music I like the only good music and that which I dislike factually bad? Nope. There are music lovers who have completely different tastes than me, and that’s great, I respect that. They are also music people. I’d even recognize some of that as good music, just not the kind I prefer.

Continue reading ‘Music and People’

Feed the Swine

Published at January 15, 2007 in Observations. 4 Comments

As I’ve oh so proudly mentioned before, I work in a furniture store. For the readers not familiar with the store (Blvd Home Furnishings), I’ll explain just a bit. The store is just over 115,000 square feet, it has a whole lot of upholstery, mattresses, appliances, home electronics, bedroom furniture, and dining room furniture. Also featured in the store is a diner, which attracts way more people than I’d ever guess. Well, this post isn’t about the diner, it’s about something that I find much more disturbing.

During the almost weekly sales events, most will have free hot dogs and such. That usually happens on Saturday, when I’m not there. Every now and then, during a weekday (like Martin Luther King Jr. Day), we’ll have free pizza in the store. When this happens, it’s like an egg sack of a spider broke open near the front of the store, only all the eggs are 70-90 year old geriatrics who instinctively flock to the free food. It’s almost sickening.

Sure, there are other people who get the pizza (high school kids, excited lower-middle class types who are ecstatic to feed their five kids for free for one meal, and other random passers by), but none stand out quite like the oops I didn’t plan my retirement so now I stick to this crowd who follows free food around like swine to the troff group.

Being relatively young at the moment, I find that sight enough motivation to make sure that I’m sitting on enough money when I become old and useless that I don’t have to thrive on going around to retailers eating their cold free food. What a terrible lifestyle. Given, this is a retirement/snowbird community, so the problem is much more evident than most other places, but I know it happens everywhere.

So anyway, a word of warning: If you are thinking of going to the Blvd just to get a free slice of pizza or hot dog, ask yourself if it’s worth going through a slow-moving crowd of white haired folk with little bladder control (which became evident today when I walked by one such crowd) and waiting in line for fast food quality cuisine.

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