Current Brainstorms
Wednesday, July 31, 2002
I'm in a considerably better mood now than I was a few minutes ago. I went to the
Aggie Roundtable networking meeting this morning and learned about a career fair that started at 10:00. I went to check it out and was not at all impressed with the lineup. Most of the positions were sales and administrative assistant. There were only a couple of places that were hiring for technical positions. I did learn about going to massage therapy school. It would be $2,685 for tuition, books, and supplies. I would take 4 months going full-time or 7 months going part-time.
I stopped by my office to get in their face about the dang blinds. I had my speal all ready and was upset. I didn't even get a chance to talk to the manager. She was out on property and then had someone in her office. Instead the same girl who gave me hell last week told me that they would just replace the blinds. That's more than what I was asking for, but it does calm me down a lot. I just wish they had done this last week and not riled me up in the first place.
2:01 PM Posted by Big Dave
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Tuesday, July 30, 2002
My apartment complex is living up to the low expectations I have set for them. I have gone by twice during posted business hours and the office has been closed. I called Friday for the manager and she has yet to return my phone call. I called this afternoon after going by to find a closed office. The unhelpful lady that I talked to last week answered the phone and offered to "help" me. I informed her that I had talked to her last week and really wanted to talk to the manager. She informed me that the manager had "stepped out." They are just reaffirming for me that fact that I don't want to live in this apartment past the end of my lease. Twerps.
3:38 PM Posted by Big Dave
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I have been thinking about country dancing over the last couple of days. I used to go all the time in College Station, but I haven't found too many willing partners since I've been in Dallas. I remember the first time I learned how to Two-Step. I was supposed to be in the chorus for our Senior Play, "Oklahoma". The chorus/extras were supposed to come out dancing for a number. Becki Hamilton was my partner. She didn't really try to teach me. She just drug me around the floor. And that's saying something because Becki wasn't that big.
When I got to A&M the first thing I did was go to Fish Camp for a week. Basically it's a week long ice breaker for freshman to learn more about A&M traditions while they brainwash us into Super Aggies. Every night they had a dance and that was the first time I really learned how to Two-Step.
It was about a year before I tried again, but I couldn't remember much. I went in a large group with my
church group. We had a lot of fun, but for about a year I would find the prettiest girl there and get her to teach me how to dance. It worked when I didn't go very often, but when I started going regularly I had to find something else.
1:49 AM Posted by Big Dave
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I've been in a goofy mood today. I guess the best description is "the funk." You know that mood where the world doesn't seem quite right even when things should be going to suit you? I got home from the camando capture the flag game with the youth group and just soaked my feet for a little while. Then I went to find a new book since I had just finished
God Emporer of Dune. I picked up my copy of
The Power of Positive Thinking by Norman Pearle and decided I would read it for a while. Pearle brings up some good points in his first chapter; namely, fill your mind with positive thoughts and focus on your faith. When you dwell on negative thoughts they manage to become an even greater enemy than they actually are. He gave some verses that I had already memorized, but didn't think of.
Phillipians 4:13 - "I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me."
Romans 8:31 - "If God is for us, who can be against us?"
1:40 AM Posted by Big Dave
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Sunday, July 28, 2002
I don't normally post links to the comics I read daily, but this one was really funny.
Dilbert 07/28/02
11:12 PM Posted by Big Dave
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Thursday, July 25, 2002
I'm on a rampage today. I have been in a "mood" all day. I received a letter from my apartment complex stating that I had damaged my blinds and must replace them. These blinds sit facing to the northwest so they have the full afternoon sun beating down on them. I decided that I would go into the apartment complex office today to discuss with them the possibility of splitting the cost to replace the blinds. Part of it because the sun has caused the blinds to become slightly brittle and the other part because I know my cats have helped it along. I thought my request was quite reasonable, but before I finished my justification, the peon at the front desk launches into a speal about how blinds are not damaged by sunlight. Her aparment faces the sun "24 hours a day." I pointed out that it was impossible for her window to be facing the sun 24 hours a day. She responded with a "whatever." Now I thought my request was quite reasonable. Regardless of whether she agreed with me or not, she could have told me that I needed to talk to the manager and leave it at that. As we were concluding our discussion, I informed her that I would have a lawyer send the apartment complex a nice little note. I won't say what I have called her since then when I ranted on the phone to my mom (for legal council) and Josh (to support my righteous indignation). I'm not a fool. Never treat me like one. Or I become very angry. And you wouldn't like me when I'm angry.
I may have to take this post down if this whole situation escalates, but I'm hoping the manager and I can work it out.
5:47 PM Posted by Big Dave
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Tuesday, July 23, 2002
Once again it's almost 4:00 in the morning. You would think that pre-interview jitters wouldn't affect me any more. I thought working out was supposed to wear me out and make me go to sleep. If anything I just feel more awake. Sigh.
3:51 AM Posted by Big Dave
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Hmmm... I'm thinking one of these layouts would suit very nicely. If not for my current page, the for a project that I'm working on.
Layout Reservoir
Link via A Large Head
2:37 AM Posted by Big Dave
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Monday, July 22, 2002
For my fellow
Freebirds fans.
Possible sighting in the Dallas area soon. For the mean time though I'll have to subsist on
Hooya's (listed under Eats for All).
2:14 PM Posted by Big Dave
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Sunday, July 21, 2002
I was trying to figure out what I wanted to add to my last post, but I really don't have a whole lot.
One thing I did notice tonight. The cat litter I buy has a label on the top that says, "Safe for use around animals."
11:47 PM Posted by Big Dave
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It's 4 AM and all is well. I actually have a lot to report, but I don't think a semi literate babbling would interest many of you. I'll have to try tomorrow.
Highlights:
- I may or may not be entered into a Bachelor Auction for Charity
- Reign of Fire is awesome
- I mourn the passing of George our mutant cat
- I got to hang out with lots of friends this weekend.
4:21 AM Posted by Big Dave
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Thursday, July 18, 2002
I have a bunch of kids that live in my complex. For most of the summer they have run around and carried on a little ways from my door since I have a large stretch of grass running along the front of my building. For some reason, today I want to go shout at them, but I know it's just the grumpy old man in my head today. While I was thinking about it, I came up with some dialog in my head for the encounter.
Me: "Guys go play somewhere else"
A little 8 year-old walks up to me and asks "Why?"
Me: "Because I'm in a bad mood and you guys are just exacerbating the situation."
Him: "What does 'exacerbate' mean?"
Me: "It means making it worse"
Him: "Why can't you just say 'making it worse'?"
Me: "I don't know, but that's beside the point. Why don't you guys go play in the grass behind the mailbox?"
Him: "My mom said I had to stay in site of the house"
Me: "You can still see it from over there"
Him: "No I can't"
Me: "Yes you can."
This panty bickering continues for several more minutes. It results in them going back to what they were doing, and me coming back inside. After thinking along these lines, I just decided not to say anything.
2:32 PM Posted by Big Dave
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Monday, July 15, 2002
Now I know I've always enjoyed playing with legos, but
this is a little crazy. Let me guess. His mom wouldn't let him have toy guns as a kid so he made his own. :)
Things seem to be a little better in the job market. I'm seen some more interest and there are more positions out there that interest me. I think that's a good sign.
I have decided that I want to change the layout of my site and move some things around. I may even move away from Blogger and go to something like Moveable Type. I want to put my blog on a page that's not the main so that I can start using this site more as a portfolio/show case with a blog on the side. I haven't decided yet what I'm going to do, but I have another project to finish before I get going on the whole redesign.
I have been having all sorts of computer problems recently. This morning, my network didn't want to come up. I think it was a DNS issue with my ISP. It's resolved now, but I have another headache. I bought
Warcraft III several weeks ago. I loved
Warcraft II and
Startcraft, so I got the game. every since I got it, I have had nothing but problems. My system is stable as long as I don't play a game. When I go into the game it crashes within 30 minutes. Just absolutely locks up. I can't figure it out. I've installed the latest drivers and everything works fine out of the game, but for some reason it chokes in the game. Highly frustrating for someone who's trying to relieve some frustration. At least it keeps me honest that way.
1:32 PM Posted by Big Dave
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Friday, July 12, 2002
Well after a little drought, I had my first nibble. I have an interview on Wednesday as a Web Developer. It looks promising and I'm interested to learn more about the company.
4:29 PM Posted by Big Dave
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Thursday, July 11, 2002
The
Texas A&M 12th Man Foundation has released its own
commercial/Trailer into
AMC Theatres. It cracks me up. Why I don't know, but it does.
5:56 PM Posted by Big Dave
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My parents still live in Abilene, TX where I grew up. I had been watching on the news the reports of the flooding taking place in Abilene and the surrounding areas. My mom and dad drove around looking at the flood damage while my mom took
pictures. She put them up on
her website and I thought they interesting so I put them on this one. If you're interested in learning more about the Abilene Floods
click here.
5:43 PM Posted by Big Dave
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Wednesday, July 10, 2002
Sometimes, people's unsolicited advice really gets on your nerves.
11:02 AM Posted by Big Dave
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Tuesday, July 09, 2002
7:25 PM Posted by Big Dave
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Friday, July 05, 2002
Hmm... I guess it's time to say something so no one things I have fallen off the edge of the world.
I really haven't wanted to say anything. I have been in a foul mood for most of the week. Why I'm not entirely sure. I guess part of it is the frustration of the job search. I realize this is a vacation week, but I haven't heard anything from anyone. When I have called them, they've said "We don't have any jobs like that right now." It's not like I'm sitting on my duff. I have plenty to keep my busy, but I am getting tired of "keeping busy." Let's see, what have I been doing?
Reading:
a couple of computer security books;
Secrets and Lies,
Ethical Hacking,
Secrets of a Super Hacker
a book on
Visual Basic .NET
a book on
UML
The Picture of Dorian Gray by Oscar Wilde
Dune Messiah by Frank Herbert
Watching:
TV - especially useless daily programming. And MTV which never plays videos anymore, but I seem to enjoy Road Rules and The Real World
My wide assortment of movies; most recently
Coyote Ugly,
Buffy Season 2,
Small Soldiers,
The Last Dragon, and
Muppets Take Manhattan
Movies:
We Were Soldiers,
The Minority Report,
The New Guy
Playing:
Dungeon Siege - nice game, crappy ending
WarCraft III - would be great if my computer would stop locking up on me about 5 minutes into the game. (BIG source of frustration)
Working on:
My Mother's E-book (creating and Autorun, making it dynamic for different page sizes)
Youth Week Registration Web Page
Earning Java Developer Certification (next step after Programmer)
Creating a web page for the Career Transitions group at church.
Small contracting jobs
And all of this to "keep busy." I think I'm ready to be really productive.
1:26 PM Posted by Big Dave
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