Thursday, November 16, 2006

I'm Baaaaaack!


So I'm back online finally! Whew, that's some bad cold turkey type juju to do to a nerd like me. I'm tweakin' over here. At any rate, it's DSL and features 4Mbps download and 768Kbps upload, which is a significant upload jump versus the old cable modem, and runs about $100 a monthm but thankfully the new employers pays for it. I also get the VOIP phone setup, but don't actually have a phone yet- guess that's a chore for tomorrow. So, once again I can blog more than a link or two sentence paragraph (hear that Schmoopie- you CAN write more as well I'm sure). I can also reconnect to my precious freakout porno stuff, which is a WHOLE (pun intended) more important as Schmoopie is 1300 miles away. Hope I don't get tennis elbow.

Seattle is enjoying the wettest November in history, and potentially the wettest month in history. I'm digging the hell out of that. It's really windy too which is cool as well, and the views are spectacular. One thing I was telling Schmoopie about that I found interesting has to do with resellers/retailers/stores/restaurants/etc. In most towns, you'll find Super/Target/Wal-Mart/K-Mart, Home Depot, Best Buy (and similar) and all of these "big box" stores. They don't exist in Seattle. I mean they are in the metro area, but outside of Seattle proper- in the 'burbs exclusively. The only exceptions seem to be Office Depot/Max, which makes sense. I was looking for a Best Buy (nerd? yes-guilty) and find that I have to go well north or south of town. Suck. Plus- the nearest Chipotle is up by WU, which isn't all that close either. Double suck. The plus side of all of this is that smaller vendors survive and vaariety is abundant, although prices tend to be higher. I'm certainly eating better (lunch today being the exception though- I ate at Taco Time *shudder* I don't see that happening again) and am walking a lot more, and still rank among the slowest walkers in town.

They have soft water here, and that makes taming my moustache more challenging. I may resort to wax or hair care crap as the wind and rain also make it bushy and straight. It's ending up like a bundle of hay on my lip some days. Sheesh.

I'm needing to get a better laptop bag of some type for my work provided MacBook Pro and was leaning toward a slim backpack with a padded sleeve (like what I'm using for my PowerBook), but may go the direction of a courier bag. I saw this and was impressed:



If you have any recommendations for a bag, I'm all ears. I'm also looking for something >$80.

Speaking of work, it's going well I think, but I'm amazed at how much there is to know and keep on top of, and I'm impressed as hell that my predecessor was able to keep thinkgs rolling along. I'm trying to get up to speed on things as needs crop up and even that is a tall order. I was talking with my predecessor about this, as I've been concerned that I haven't been ramping up quickly enough to suit them, (and as I'm thinking this, they let go of the office manager, making me even more paranoid) and he said that the day before he and the biz owner were talking about me and were pleased with my pace and efforts. I confessed that I was under the impression that this job was more managable that it has revealed itself to be, and while I don't feel overwhelmed, was surprised and a little stunned. I told him I was scrutinizing myself in terms of whether or not another IT guy dropped into this scene would be further along by now (factoring in a similar set of setbacks, such as the primary backup sever in town crashing on my second day). There are surely those among you that think my candor is a mistake (and admittedly, honesty has come back to bite me before) but I still think it's the best policy no matter how uncomfortable. In this case it was refreshing as this employer appears to be appreciative and worthy, as my predecessor (okay, that sounds awkward and sucks to type, so let's call him "OG", yes, as in "original gangsta") told me that it was his expectation that any replacement would need 6 months to a year to feel comfortable in the role. Wow. This is a big change and I'm diggin the hell out of it.

In related news, I'll be heading out to the east coast sometime in early to mid December for EMC training. Changes changes changes... Where is the Scotch?

10 Comments:

Blogger slaghammer said...

While the beneficial cleansing effect of a good case of the scours is self-evident, I think in general, you should not eat at a Mexican restaurant that has the word “Taco” in its name. I exempt Taco Bell from this rule for sentimental reasons.

12:03 AM  
Anonymous Anonymous said...

Are you sure that bag will be able to withstand the brute force of your left hand in lieu of missing your lovely wife and ingaging in all those French art house cinema sites LoL

3:18 AM  
Blogger Cheesy said...

Stucco ~~ welcome back... but all I got out of this post was///

Stucco has a bush on his lip....
gadz I have a scuzzball mind

Happy surfin!!

6:33 AM  
Anonymous Anonymous said...

Just to clear any misconceptions that Stucco may have caused.. Masturbation does not cause tennis elbow. That is an urban myth, perpetuated by those who don't like Billy Jean King so much.

Tennis elbow is caused by the horizontal transference of force caused by a abll transfering its kinetic energy into a racket which, in turn, transfers it up into the forearm in a horizontal fashion.

Masturbation (unless laying on your side, and who does that?) is a vertical enterprise.

8:00 AM  
Anonymous Anonymous said...

I for one can state that thanks to Scott from Oregon, I have learned my one thing for today "masturbation does NOT cause Tennis Elbow". I will however declare that masturbation does develop massive forearms, I mean c'mon look at Popeye, you know Olive didn't put out and them forearms didn't grow that way. "I yam what I yam, and that's all I yam,"

On a side note, I would find it unfair if a company required immediate and complete understanding of the network environment. It has always taken me 6 months to "learn" a network, especially when my predecessors learn't all their knowledge from an "ask jeeves" search and truly believed that data flowed faster downhill (I kid you not).

Go with the flow mate, don't be paranoid, and stay away from cocky and you'll do fine. your temperament is teddy bear'ish and I sure as hell would keep you as I would always want to know why you should keep an unsharpened pencil behind your ear.

8:14 AM  
Anonymous Anonymous said...

Can you get a handlebar embroidered on your new bag?

8:36 AM  
Blogger Unknown said...

"features 4Mbps download and 768Kbps upload..."

That's a lot of porn darlin'. Think you can 'handlebar' it?

Heh.

And Schmoop wants to ride a train tomorrow. What does that tell you?

Aren't you glad you're moving away from me?

I think Sam really misses you, Stucco.

2:08 PM  
Blogger Stucco said...

Where oh where to begin?

Slag, Taco Time is near to my new home. I concur that the name is off-putting, but not nearly as off-putting as the orange movie-theater-popcorn-butter substance that ran down my hand and wrist from the taco.

Judith, I'm going to have to become "master-dexterous" or may things will be upended. I might overbrush the teeth on one side of my mouth, I might rip the turn signal or wiper control off the car... There are many dangers of not address the "yin" to my "yank".

Cheesy- You have a scuzzball mind you say? I say you're an arm chair vulgarian. You'll be able to sleep soundly knowing that my capacity for and delight in the offensive is wildly beyond any I've yet encountered. I've met folks with differing styles of profanity, but I can confidently say that I've never been bested in sheer conceptual filth. I live life censoring myself all the time. Occasionally Schmoopie gets a window into this world, but in her case I think she likes the shock value. Like a firetruch on a rollercoaster with a wet bar, sauna, and public sex dungeon, all traveling through an old style car wash (the non-touchless variety with sudsy flaps and brushes). I'm not saying I understand why Schmoopie seems to be amused by this- but I'm thankful.

Scott- what if you are "jackin" it with a tennis racket? Also, if you are unfamiliar with Billy Connolly, you've probably not heard of his method- lay on your side (on your arm) until your hand falls asleep, then jack it and it feels like someone else. I myself like using Christmas bells to help cheer up the angels (or baby Jesus) that cry when you rub one out. Also, Riggs was a prick- King deserved that win.

TG- as always your support and positivity are appreciated. What did I do with an unsharpened pencil? It might've been the drugs.

Vulgar (ha!) Wizard- I dunno about the embroidery, but that seems a little girly for me to be worried about. I'm more interested in getting actual handlebars mounted to the headboard....

Pants- I was in on the ground floor of "Porncellerator" development- I'm not afraid. Sometimes in surfing these things one can get out of our preference area, and this too typically is not a problem (I'm not freaked out by latex/machine/electro/foot/pantyhose/whatever fetish or gay stuff), but these freaking people who run skewers through their naughty bits are cringe inspiring. THAT'S what I have to be careful to avoid. (People that know me well will know why this is a "tender" subject, and my bet is that NO ONE wants me to blog about that. Oh the horror...) As for Schmoop and the train ride, she'll be fine. It's when she deliberately gets the washer off balance for the spin cycle and leans into it or sits on it that indicates that times are bad.
And I miss Sammy too. Brain damages critter s in the world have to look out for one another, you know?

4:43 PM  
Blogger Jill said...

I recommend some Dippity-Do for the moustache. When I was in elementary school my Mom used it on my bangs and they were always shiny and manageable.

8:46 PM  
Blogger Cheesy said...

WEEEEE Billy Connolly is where I learned about "stranger sex" too! lololol

scuzbags UNITE!

10:04 PM  

Post a Comment

<< Home