Some people…

…just won’t get a clue and realize this debate ended LONG ago.  Hell, prominent news anchors even got told to muzzle it on the issue!  Yet here we go again…

http://www.kdvr.com/news/kdvr-obama-billboard-112009,0,2612065.story

People… debate him on Health Care, on his plans for Afghanistan, on Wall Street Reform or the handling of the economy… but drop the stupid crap that he’s denied (and proven) over and over again . Just because you can’t find anything better to do with your ignorant brains doesn’t mean you get to keep doing this.

Just accept the fact that he’s the President and move on.

Best. Episode. Ever.

The Librarian - "Simone's Song" (feat. Stana Katic)

The multi-talented Stana Katic (of ABC's Castle) singing the main love song from "Librarian 3". And yes, it really is her vocals for the song. Enjoy. :)

Not enough time...

There's just not enough time in the day anymore.  Here is it 2:43am and I'm JUST crawling into bed.  And today was my day off! LOL  I had a couple meetings for UFDS, ran some errands, and had a raid scheduled for tonight.  Plus some other website work that needed to be taken care off.   It's just so hectic... I need a vacation!

Problem is money...  I need money to go on vacation and I've gotta work tons of hours to make the money in order to take the vacation... but that just makes the vacation more urgent! LOL   It's a vicious domino effect!

Transformers Theme - Arrival to Earth (piano)

Awesome song...

Planning the Journey…

I should never have rented that damn car. LOL   Now I want one.  Problem is the payments would DEFINATELY fit in with what Brian costs me.  Actually it would be cheaper… IF I managed to get passed the credit check.  But yeah… that’s not gonna happen.

Here comes the fees...

In this economy the banks may be dropping (or restructuring) the way they charge their fees, but the cell phone companies have decided to up theirs.  Verizon just announced a new $350 Early Termination Fee.  Article link and more below the break...

The White Knight is Gone

Brian has returned from his day at the spa (dealership) where bad news abounded.  The poor guy.  The oil change and light bulb replacement were completed with no problems.  However, his GPS unit is once again busted.  For those with the Chrysler "after-market" navigation system by Garmin... the Navus... I'm very sorry.   This will be the 4th one I've gone through... and alas, now it is out of warranty.  So I'm stuck with not being able to touch the screen.

Next bit of bad news, the battery is cracked and leaking battery acid.  Yay for corrosive liquids in the engine compartment!  Speaking of engine compartment liquids, the Transmission fluid could use a replacement... and also one of the tires is slashed on the side wall.

I shoulda kept the Journey... LOL

On a Journey...

Brian is on vacation at the Dodge dealer, getting some minor repairs and a spa treatment (oil change).  While he's away, I'm enjoying the company of a beautiful albino... named the Journey.

They gave me a 2009 Dodge Journey as a rental for the day... which is pretty cool since I've been looking at this vehicle as a possible replacement when Brian entires retirement... or that great lube shop in the sky, whichever comes first.  The rental model is the extremely stripped down version though.  No cruise control, no GPS, no trip computer... I'm missing Brian already. :(

The major advantage to the Journey is his ability to seat 7 (if there was a third row, but since it's an option this one doesn't have it)... and the better gas milease compared to Brian, who can be quite the thirsty little boy.   16 mpg is my average with Brian (a 2006 Dodge Dakota Quad Cab with 4.7L V8 High Output).  This one supposedly gets 25.... but since Brian is suppose to get 20, i guess I would expect to see 21... which is still 5 better than now.

Overall, I like the Journey... and having it for the day has allowed me to see how it handles on the road in a more relaxed, everyday-driving kinda way.  So I think I am leaning toward getting a Journey.  But after owning a Dakota for nearly a decade (Justin from Apr 2001- Dec 2005, Brian from Dec 2005 - Present), it will be quite the change to not have the truck bed anymore...

Congratulations on being a Great Customer! Now we have to close your account...

This seems to be entering the mainstream trend with financial institutions theses days.  It's sad, but the old axiom "Good Guys finish last" has come true.   Citibank, Chase, and Bank of America among other credit card issuers have started closing the accounts of their customers with little or no warning.  And the startling revelation that appears to be coming out of it is they are hitting the "good customers" more than the ones who are behind on payments.

Sounds like bad business right?  Wrong...

The late payers are actually making the banks MORE money than the ones with accounts in good standing.  Why?   Fees.   Loads and loads of fees.   Late fees for not paying on time.  Fees for going over your credit limit.  Increased interest rates for getting behind.  It all adds up to a much more profitable customer than those who play by the rules, make the monthly payments, and never have any fees applied.

What a sad world we live in... when those that break the rules can get away with it.  And it's the good customers that pay... and pay some more...

The New Projects...

For those interested in the new projects I'm involved in...

1. Underfire Digital Services - http://www.ufds.net/
website & graphic design, hosting, and technology consulting

2. Underfire Game Studios - http://www.underfiregs.net/
game development company

3. Etherift - http://www.etherift.com/
the first game being designed by Underfire Game Studios

4. NetPav - http://www.netpav.com/
Not a new project, but a rebirth of sorts... this site is being converted to an online portal/shopping experience that will include a branch of the hosting services available from Underfire Digital Services.

Plus I'm still doing the insurance thing...  so yeah... I'm not busy or anything. :)

Party Weekend!

It's a mini party weekend for me.  I have several things to celebrate, after all...

First, I sold my first full-blown website this week with Underfire Digital Services!
Second, I launched a sister company, Underfire Game Studios, with 3 friends of mine.
And finally, today is my birthday!

So Whoohoo!  Party Weekend... at home... by myself...   hmmm...

Operating on Empty

I barely got any sleep last night.  I tossed and turned for quite some time before dropping off.  And then I had to get up early this morning.  So now I find myself yawning all day today. :(   I tried to do some PHP coding earlier but I couldn't concentrate on it that much... so I'm watching some movies (NetFlix FTW) out on the couch... maybe I'll feel like coding more after dinner. :)

Under the wire... or power cord!

I'm just making it in under the wire to get this post published on the 3rd... making it 5 days in a row that I've published to MDL.  That's gotta be a record! 

I'm glad I picked up the NetBook... because i'm really using it a lot... like now, as I type this posting out on the balcony of my apartment.  It's such a nice night out that I decided to get some fresh air rather than stay couped up in the stuffy office.

I've been doing some PHP programming all night using it too... only make drawback/advantage is I don't have Dreamweaver on this thing to make it easier/harder.  I say both things because I'm learning Dreamweaver has a distinct issue with creating proper PHP pages... at least my version of it does.  But then I am running on version 8 which is about 4 years out of date... what should I expect, eh?

Well sorry, Adobe... but I can't afford to spend $1400 to get the latest version just right now... maybe I'll get lucky and sell a website soon and can start paying off some stuff.



Guess I spoke too soon.  Glad Blogger auto-saves draft posts cause I just had a minor power failure.  The NetBook's battery died (told you I've been using it a lot) :P   Anyways, I'm plugged in inside now, but it's time for bed.  Catchya on the flip side!

Yay for Friday!

After a very long week, Friday is finally here.  Hopefully things will get better but I'm starting to become overwhelmed with all the projects I have going on at once.  Marketing is starting to gear up at the insurance office in an attempt to reboot the company... I'm still doing website design on the side... and now I'm also developing a browser-based game with some friends.  This is in addition to the other extracurricular activities I've got going on like WoW Raids... which take up 3 of the nights in the week.

Hopefully I can use the weekend to get caught up on a few things and get ready for the next week.  I already have a meeting scheduled on Tuesday for my first big web project so I kinda need to be prepared for that.

The Long Day

I'm very tired tonight, but couldn't let the streak die at just 2 posts in as many days now, could I? :)   Just got back from helping a coworker set up their brand new LED flat screen TV.   Very impressive setup... and would have been able to test it... if Best Buy had actually sold them the right stuff.

The sold him HDMI cables that were too short and no surge supressor.  We're in the middle of the friggin' desert and because it's so dry, we get tons of lightening hits.  The last thing you want to do is fry thousands of dollars of electronics.   So he's going back tomorrow to get the remaining pieces he needs to complete the setup.

I'm afraid it's gonna be a short post cause I'm just too tired to keep writing.   I'll post another mini-update midday tomorrow or so. :)

The New Blog

Well...two days in a row... this is a first. A first post to the new blog location, that is. MDL.com moved last night over to BlogSpot. I got tired of the old layout, but really didn't have the energy to design something new.... so I went the template route... and then learned about Blogger's Layouts and decided, "meh, might as well". And VOILA! Insta-new website blog. Plus, it's got FISH! So it's full of win right there!

Anyways... I hit up the doctor today. Have had a cough I haven't been able to get rid of for the past few weeks. I thought I had it licked last Friday but then it came back again over the weekend so I decided I should get in to see what the Doctor says. Still don't know what it is, but we have a feeling it may be related to the acid-reflux I get sometimes. So we did some bloodtests and made an appointment for 30-days out. No new medications though... so still more coughing ahead, I guess. Oh well...

Had a GREAT raid in WoW tonight... one of the best ones we've had since before the expansion released! To those that don't play, I know this won't mean much to you, but we managed to take down 3 instances and STILL nearly cleared a 4th! All in just 1 night's normal raid period. Well done! Hopefully, we'll be able to knock one of the instances off the schedule soon. I think we're all pretty tired of continuously going in there, but there's a "legendary" item that we are trying to get... and the only way to do that is to run it over and over.

It's back to work tomorrow after today's UP (Unpaid) day. Although, I did stop by the office this afternoon and worked on a flyer that needed to get out. Hopefully this shortened work schedule (and consequently shorted paycheck) will be done away with... and hopefully not by losing it altogether! We'll see...

Mini Me

Here's a picture of the new netbook from Dell... and my cup from Quiznos. :P

Too long...

It's been far too long since I posted here. Tons of things have changed in my life since I posted back in February. Let me see if I can remember them all!

March was a fairly bland month.... can't think of anything that happened good, bad, or otherwise that is worth noting. April brought the downsizing at the insurance company I work for. Yay for 20% less pay... but at least we also got 20% less hours so that let us do stuff on the side. For my part, I elected to start my own company... a web design firm that only now (some 5 months later) is starting to get off the ground. Gotta love government red tape and paperwork to start a company up.

June and July saw the summer and hot temperatures return. August brought Blizzcon in Anaheim. I headed out to California for that this year with my friend Corey, and we hooked up with several other guildies there. In total, about 11 guildies made it out this year.

And now in September (nearly October), business at the insurance company is still down, but there is hope... we have some new prospects and are reving up some new marketing. We're hopeful we might have jobs in 2010 still... but it's a toss up right now.

One good new thing that September did bring is my new NetBook. I took the plunge and bought a new Dell Inspiron Mini 10. It's what I'm typing on now, posting this message from my bed just before zonking out. it's pretty cool. I love it's small size. I think it will come in very useful for the business... I plan on travelling out to places a lot. :) The only thing it is lacking is a mobile broadband connection. it has WiFi but that requires a hot-spot somewhere. Once I get the business a little more on solid ground, I'll probably look into getting a MiFi card from Sprint so I can connect a plethora of internet devices... like the NetBook, my PSP, the main laptop, etc. I might have 5 devices (it's max number on simultaneous connections) just by myself. Sorry passengers... yer on yer own! LOL

Well... I should sign off. Have an early morning doctor's appointment tomorrow. Have had a cough for going on 2 weeks and I guess it's time I did something about it. Will post again soon... well sooner than last time's gap of months on end. :P

Delisting...

The Financial Stock Exchanges do it when the company is goes under...

The Hollywood Stock Exchange does it when a movie gets old...

The Phone Book does it when you disconnect phone service...

However you slice it, I'm delisting myself from the social networks. There's nothing out there for me, especially on Singles Awareness Day... so while the boredom has occured in full force today, I decided to do it and save myself the spam emails saving "Your match is out there" and other lies.