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Craptastic

Tuesday, May 23rd, 2006

My weekend was rather uneventful. I was sick for a big part of it, I still feel like crap now but at least it’s better than a few days ago.

Miffed
My table was to arrive yesterday; it didn’t get here on Saturday so I assumed Monday considering it was waiting at the UPS warehouse in Uniondale. I was giddy when UPS pulled up; I knew that the porch would finally begin to take shape, when the trucker moved his way up the stairs I was instantly disappointed. Kmart fucked up my order and sent me an Adirondack chair. I refused the order, called Kmart and asked what went wrong. When the chair gets back to Kmart’s warehouse I’ll be refunded for my order. I ordered the table again though, this time it was about $7 less than the previous order (thanks to Memorial Day sales). The new table is currently in route to my house, the shipping status hasn’t updated so who knows when it will get here. The thing I hate about UPS is they don’t give you an estimated arrival time, you basically have to wait for the status to say “Out for delivery”. FedEx gives you an arrival date, as well as the begin shipping date.

And speaking of FedEx…My laptop is on its way. The estimated ship date was the 25th but I got lucky and they shipped it out this morning. It’s coming from China though, and according to FedEx it will be here on Friday (May 26) at about 10:30 AM. I’m a little confused though, I’ve never heard of 3 day shipping from China, unless its being sent priority mail, something I didn’t pay for.

So either way, I’m going to assume that on Friday the table and the laptop will be here. I’m giving that a ‘general’ assumption though because I know something?¢‚Ç¨‚Ñ¢s going to happen to make the wait longer.

Patio
I went to Wal-Mart yesterday and picked up six chairs for the patio. I also made a quick stop to Path Mark Supermarket and picked up chair cushions. I didn’t get the ones from Wal-Mart because they were like $6 each and very ugly. The ones at the supermarket were $2.50 and rather cute. They fit on the chairs nicely and I’ve basically spent the last day outside enjoying them. I just can’t wait until everything comes together.

Weather = SUCKS
The weather lately has been so extremely annoying it’s unreal. I enjoyed the week of rain, I really did. I dislike all of the left over wind though. I don’t mind a nice cool breeze but when it’s gusts of wind maxing out at 35-40 MPH then it’s just uncalled for. I can’t wait until it stops being so damn gusty. Again, a nice little breeze is fine but Bella being blown over while she’s trying to balance so she can pee – is just not kosher.

Cleanliness in Krissyville
I went on a total cleaning spree this morning. My room (although fairly clean) is more like an organized mess that was driving me crazy. I’ve cleaned off my desk, I re-cleaned my closet too. I know I cleaned it out last week but I haven’t done my laundry in a week (before this morning) so there’s a lot of clothes that need to go back in there. I also cleaned out the section near my air conditioner, this way it’s one clean shot to get it out of there in a few weeks when it gets warm enough to have to put it in. It’ll only be used at night because I can totally see myself being either outside or in the living room for quite some time. I’m sure I’ll relax in bed watching TV and getting some work done but that’s at night and that’s just easier to deal with. I vacuumed, I cleaned out the kitchen and I even did some sweeping on the porch, not that it mattered considering all the damn wind put most of it back :grrr:

Computerness
I did some major cleaning out today. I got rid of about 10gigs of crap files off my computer. I burned all of my archived clients to CDs and I got rid of things I’ve been meaning to move for quite some time. I have two zip disks filled and ready to transfer over to the laptop as soon as I’m situated there. I’ve already setup the new router; it’s working like a charm. At least I think it is. The ports are fine, I’m just not sure about the wireless. The line is password protected so I don’t have to worry about someone tapping into my connection. I’ve opened up the “Shared” folders on this computer (with a password of course) so that I’m able to go back and forth and get the important files. It’s a hassle saving everything to a disk and then reloading, it’s called a NETWORK for a reason damn it.

In conclusion
I know I’m behind on all of my comment sites, but I’ve also placed myself on hiatus with them so I don’t have to deal with that right now. I don’t mind the sites but sometimes when I have to visit some teeny-bopper “Lyke…OMG!” blog it makes me want to put my fist through the screen. I’ll get around to the emails in my box when I get the energy to do it. I’ll also return the comments here when I get that energy as well. For now though, I’m going to find myself something to make for dinner and then relax in front of the TV for a little while.

Posted in Daily, Randomage | 6 Comments »

I don’t know…

Saturday, May 20th, 2006

I know it’s only been two days since I posted but for some reason it feels more like two weeks. It could have something to do with the constant string of storms or the fact that I’ve woken up at 7am for the last few days, only to fall asleep around 4am the following morning, I have no idea.

I’ve been very anxious the last few days; it’s kind of that weird feeling of everything coming together where I’m both excited, but sad about it too. I’m sure it makes no sense to you but that’s basically how it feels to me, and we all know I’ve never been one to make much sense anyway.

I’m extremely happy that my laptop will be here sometime in the next two weeks. I’m very happy my patio will be setup the way I’ve wanted it to be for the last three years. I’m very ticked off that people are on my case about things that don’t concern me, and I’m extremely upset that even with the good things, I don’t have Joe to share it with. I know it’s been two months, and there are few people who say “Get over it and move on.” because that’s just how my family works, but every day I wake up thinking about him and I can honestly say that time heals JACK SHIT.

I’m depressed and I don’t like being depressed. My guard is back up, to the point that I can literally say I trust absolutely no one and I’m sure that will offend some people but that’s just how I feel. I know the two people on earth/in spirit who I can trust whole heartedly but after that it’s kind of touch and go with me. Mixed signals have me confused, false senses of security have me ticked off, and nagging about stupid things makes me want to put my foot up someone?¢‚Ç¨‚Ñ¢s ass.

I’m purposely burying myself in my work so I can avoid speaking to certain people and thinking about Joe (which definitely isn’t working very well – at all). I don’t even really go on AIM anymore; I have no use for it. It’s nothing against anyone personally, I’m just not into it these days. My main focus is to make as much money as possible and put it into my savings account so it can grow faster and I can get the hell out of here or at least get me the means to do so.

That didn’t stop me tonight though. I went to Wal-Mart with my sister. It was my intent to get a nice new messenger bag for under $20 for my laptop. It had to be big enough to hold the laptop, mouse, router and other accessories. I found a really nice one, only mine is baby blue – not pink. It’s padded, it’s roomy, and it’s got so many hidden compartments that I almost pissed myself in excitement. By now, any regular visitor should know how easily amused I am; this bag was it. It wasn’t a bad deal either; $12.96 is a great deal on something like this. I was looking around for laptop bags/cases but they were all either too expensive or too gaudy. So, this works for me.

I still, however, managed to drop $100 in about a half hour. I know I shouldn’t have, but for the most part it was things that I needed. I made a mistake the last time I was there when I bought my shampoo, it wasn’t actually shampoo – I misread the label and got myself two $6 bottles of CONDITIONER so my going back to get the shampoo was important. I also treated myself to a box of cereal, for some reason I’ve been craving Kix and since they’re about $2 more in the super market, I figured Wal-Mart would have a good deal there, and they did :w00t:

I dropped about $50 on my sister, that’s the only reason why the bill came up as high as it did. She randomly threw shit into the cart and I never turned around to say “No” because I just don’t have the energy. I don’t have the energy to do ANYTHING these days, I’m just so warn out, you’d think I was coming down with a cold or something. It’s just my body finally giving up on me I guess. I’m still quick with zingers; I’m just having trouble saying “No” to people, which is why I’m so damn tired. I’m always working on something. For certain people I offer it, so I don’t mind. But the ones that don’t talk to me for six months at a time and then IM me one day with “Could you create a theme for me?” are just really getting on my nerves.

In other news, my table arrived in NJ around 2:30 this afternoon (based on UPS tracking at least) it should hopefully be here before Monday. I’m going to jump the gun and say it will show up tomorrow – but I also said I’d pick up the chairs today and I never did so who knows. It’ll get here whenever it gets here and I guess that’s all that matters. My local King Kullen Supermarket is having its Memorial Day Sale so the chairs are marked down to about $5.99 each. This means I don’t have to find a way out to East Meadow, I can just have daddy take the roof off the Jeep and we can go pick them up. I’m not getting the bench for a few weeks, its unimportant. The shades can wait too. I just want the chairs, that’s all. Besides, for the time being I can just throw the two extra chairs in the corner with my neighbors coffee table and it can easily take the place of the bench. Problem solved.

I know I’m rambling, and I’m sure I’m boring you so I’m just going to hit “Post” and shut down for the night.

Posted in Randomage, Soul Mate | 13 Comments »

Laptop city man!

Wednesday, May 17th, 2006

I’ve been working my ass off all week. I was paid by that client, and I ordered my laptop this morning. It’s kind of funny, I’ve been waiting to have all the money together and when I finally do – I just let it sit there for a day while I thought about it.

So I logged into HP.com configured my laptop for the very last time and went through with the check out. After all of the thinking I did, I decided to go for the 15.4″ model. I know that I wanted the 17″ and part of me still does, but financially I’d prefer the 15.4″, a few years down the road I can always get myself a new laptop. For now, however, this one is exactly what I need it to be.

DV5000z
– Microsoft(R) Windows(R) XP Home Edition with SP2
– AMD Turion(TM) 64 ML-34 (1.8GHz/1MB L2 Cache)
– FREE Upgrade to 15.4″ WXGA BrightView Widescreen!!
– 128MB ATI RADEON(R) XPRESS 200M w/Hypermemory(TM)
– 1.0GB DDR SDRAM (2x512MB)
– 80 GB 5400 RPM Hard Drive
– DVD/CD-RW Combo Drive
– 54g(TM) 802.11b/g WLAN w/ 125HSM/SpeedBooster(TM)
– 12 Cell Lithium Ion Battery
– Microsoft(R) Works/Money
—————————————————–
Total: $1161.19

I know it doesn’t seem like much but I got a good deal on it and its also built like my desktop (only a little bit better). I totally love ♥ coupon codes too! So I’m very, very content and extremely antsy because I can’t wait to get it! The estimated ship date is May 25th, and since there’s a 5-7 business day shipping on it, I’m expecting to receive it sometime around June 1st, at the latest.

Patio Excitement
I ordered my new patio table from K-Mart, it only cost me like $50 which is fine with me considering the size. It’s about the same size as the table I have outside right now and I came up with a wonderful idea that suits my needs, and my wallet.

I’m keeping the current table I have, and then just putting this new one next to it. It’ll be like having one HUGE table and it will make working outside a lot easier. I’m almost positive I’ll have at least one child near me on a daily basis during the summer, so this way they aren’t sitting right on top of me. I’m just going to put a cover on each table and vwallah! I’m going to Wal-Mart on Friday with Alicia and Dave to pick up a few other needed items.

I’m going to get 6 chairs, a bench, and two shades. The chairs will obviously go around the table; the bench will be put off into the corner with a coffee table. It?¢‚Ç¨‚Ñ¢s Jen?¢‚Ç¨‚Ñ¢s and she wanted to throw it out but I’m going to recycle it considering its holding up well to outdoor use thus far. In a few weeks I’ll get some planters and then all is right with the world. My patio will be complete; I’ll be surrounded by flowers and loads of color, not to mention comfort. I really, really can’t wait!

I usually jump the gun and then things never happen. Knowing damn well that it’s all happening now, that’s just a damn good thing.

In any event, I have to get back to work. Now that I’m done with the corporate account, I have to get my ass in gear with the personal/misc. based accounts. It’s mainly graphics, a few word press templates, but other than that it evens out to about $300 that’s going to go towards the BBQ this summer (Yes Christie, I said it – the BBQ is ON!).

Later all!

Posted in Daily, Work | 19 Comments »

Woah!

Saturday, May 13th, 2006

My eyes are bothering the hell out of me today. I’ve been sitting here since 9am, with maybe 2-3 breaks, putting all of my effort into this account. I’d like to get it done as soon as possible because unfortunately I was stupid and like quadruple-booked myself. Once I’ve finished with this client I have another four to work on.

I know, “boo hoo for you, you have to work” but seriously, it’s ALL PHP, ALL DAY LONG. I’m to a point now where I’m seeing if-then statements when I close my eyes. It’s like…slot machines. “IF…THEN…FALSE”. Then when it’s like “IF…THEN….TRUE” bells go off?¢‚Ç¨¬¶SERIOUSLY!

Yea…I haven’t slept very much in the last few days, can’t you tell?

Last night was worth it though. The big storm that was SUPPOSED to come through here came through with FULL FORCE. At 3:30 this morning, I was hanging my head out the window watching the lightening shoot off like fireworks. If my camera wasn’t such a piece of shit with battery life at the moment, I would have probably snapped some ‘live-action’ shots. Don’t mind me…I love storms. I always have for some reason. Bella hid under the bed for an hour while it was rumbling outside, then she popped her head out when everything died down a bit. She spent the rest of the night sleeping under my pillows…I guess she felt safe there…who knows.

The fog right now is so thick you can slice it with a knife, which is weird considering its fairly breezy outside. I personally never thought that was possible. I thought fog was dense air due to lack of wind?¢‚Ç¨¬¶so this is all confusing to me. I’m also an idiot so who knows?

In any event, it’s almost 1:30 and I have another two hours to put in before I can get some sleep. I would pull an all nighter but my ass fell asleep hours ago so now I’m just uncomfortable…heh.

Posted in Randomage, Work | 22 Comments »

Migraine Central

Thursday, May 11th, 2006

I’ve been in a very bad mood for the last couple of days; I’m not quite sure as to why. I woke up yesterday with the biggest migraine in the world, and I was so sensitive to light and sound that even Bella walking behind me was too much to deal with. It progressively got worse as the day went by. Living on the main road, all I listen to are cars and big trucks. Sure, the windows were cracked and I could have just closed them but at the same time, however, even with closed windows you can hear all the street noise. It wouldn’t have made much of a difference either way.

School/PC Shit
I’m putting money aside for school; I still owe them like $350 so I’m going to make it a point to pay that off in one lump sum. I’ll have to dip into my savings account for it, but if it means getting my degree sooner, I guess that’s all that matters. It won’t affect my laptop fund though; I do fully intend to purchase that next week when the $1500 has cleared to my bank account. If I have to hold off on my school pay off for two weeks, so be it. I’ve been waiting three years to order my laptop, and you better believe that I will. For now I’ll just continue to pay it monthly until I have one lump sum to pay them to complete the course, I’m absolutely fine with this, at least I’m still actually paying for it.

Digital Camera
I sent in the account approval forms for my digital camera on Monday. I got some freakish test-email today so I’m watching my account closely to make sure that things actually completely go through. I’m anxious about it. So far, none of the referrals have changed and I’m still at 10/10 so I’m going to assume that everything is full speed ahead (for the time being at least). They’ve changed their gifts around. Originally I was going to get the Olympus SP-350 which is 8megapixels. They have the Fuji FinePix E900 with better zoom and stats in general, so I’m going to get that one instead. It has a smaller storage card, the Olympus gives you a 25mb the Fuji gives you a 16mb. It really doesn’t matter though; I can purchase a 1GB Fuji card later on for like $25-$30, so there really is no loss there at all. I’m excited about it, so I’m keeping my fingers crossed.

Patio Woe’s continued…
So my sister and I did some more driving around the other night and of course I found the perfect set at the super market right down the street. I didn’t have to travel all over Long Island no, no, no. I just had to go down the road with the intent of picking up some freaking milk! It was my intent to get it this week, and then I decided to wait it out a bit. I’d rather keep the money aside in case any extra fee’s come up then after I’ve ordered my laptop – whatever money I have left will go to the patio. This will go towards the flowers, the table and the outdoor carpet (because the deck has really soft wood that dents easily). My total budget is $200, which I think is very reasonable considering I don’t even have to update the porch at all. For now, I’ll just throw one of the two table cloths I got off eBay on the table outside and that’ll take care of that.

I already informed the two other tenants that there would be some remodeling done on the porch this summer, one was opposed to it but fuck her I’ve got tenure. My grand parents own the building and I’ve lived here for 18 years. If I want to throw a hanging plant out there, oh fucking well for them. I let them both know that children were not to be anywhere near any pots I put out there, and I let the one in the middle know that if there is one ash or cigarette burn on the new table I’d throw her over the ledge. Both of them leave their shit all over the deck, it’s time for spring clean out, damn it.

My headache is coming back now. For some reason the pressure like changed in the room and now my ears are clogged up. I wish it would just start fucking raining already so the weather would stop being so damn annoying.

I’ll return comments later, when I?¢‚Ç¨‚Ñ¢m in a better mood.

Posted in School, Work | 8 Comments »

You’re shittng me…right?

Monday, May 8th, 2006

I’m a bit annoyed right now; well not ANNOYED per say, but a happy frustration I guess I could label it.

Refrral Crap
I woke up this morning to find that my final offer went through for the Free Digital Camera (thanks Alicia) and now instead of just going in and claiming my free gift, they have a totally new setup that I really, truly dislike.

You have to SNAIL MAIL a color printed .PDF file with all of your information filled in. It takes 4-6 weeks for them to process this form. Then you have to log in to your account (regularly) to check on its status. Once approved you can go through the entire order process through the website

::blinks::

Am I the only person who finds this to be completely absurd? It’s just an extra headache. They updated the look of their site, which is fine because they’re millionaires and can do that. But when you totally update how the site is operated, there’s quite a bit of confusion there. When I got my iPod and my TV it was just a quick “Click here to redeem your gift” icon. It didn’t require a stamp and using the rest of the little ink I had in my printer.

I know it seems childish and I’m just getting the damn camera for free so I should buck up and deal with it.

Work Shit.
I’m more annoyed with my client right now. There’s nothing wrong with him per say, it’s just that when I email a question it takes 2-4 hours for him to respond. His response, however, it’s a “change-this-change-that” kind of an email. Considering the amount of money he’s paying me, I know that it has to be perfect but he stated in the beginning that he wanted to be in total contact with me at all times during the process. Wouldn’t that mean checking your email a little more than once a day considering you sit in front of a computer all day anyway?

Patio Woe’s
I drove around with my sister yesterday in hopes to find a patio set. We hit up Big Lots, Kmart, Sears, Home Depot and Wal-Mart. My father wasn’t too keen on the fact that I wanted to drop $125 on a picnic table that didn’t come with chairs. The table is like 96’x38′, it’s fairly large considering the price. He doesn’t seem to realize that I just have to drop $5 on each typical white plastic chair (that matches the table anyway). So I can get six of those for like $30 and it would still be about $50-$100 cheaper than some of the sets that Kmart, Wal-Mart and Home Depot had to offer. I don’t know, maybe it’s just me but that would be a better idea, wouldn’t it?

I don’t know, it’s just a bad Monday, I’ll take it as that.

I’ll get around to returning comments later; I have some work to get done. I guess I just needed to vent a little bit.

Posted in Randomage, Work | 18 Comments »

Rollin, Rollin, Rollin…

Thursday, May 4th, 2006

I know it’s only been about four days since my last blog, but it’s actually been an eventful week and few things are actually worthy of being written down.

Shopping Fever
I did some shopping on Tuesday, I probably shouldn’t have but it was everything I needed. I poked around Maces with the intent of pricing a few things that I’ll be purchasing in upcoming weeks. The new table that I want to get for the porch will run me about $120; it doesn’t have ANY chairs though, so that was annoying. I honestly thought there would be a better selection. I did found a few nice sets that I’m interested in, but then I’d have to DOUBLE my spending budget for them and I don’t personally see that as something of importance. I think for now I’ll just use the table cloths that I bought off Ebay a few months ago. I’ll do some searching through Wal-Mart, Target and K-Mart before I make my final choice at Maces.

After Maces, I strolled around the mall for a little while. As usual it was extremely uneventful and I was very happy to get in the car and go. I wound up at Wal-Mart, because lets face it, now that K-mart is gone I’ve had to find a new addiction. I got myself some shorts and t-shirts because I really needed them. I don’t have any ‘summer’ clothes. The only shorts I’ve owned up to this point were old pants that I chopped the legs off of. I used to DESTROY all of my old jeans by walking on them, so I’d just cut them at the knee and instant shorts. I’m not too keen on doing that now, so I improvised and got a few pairs of $8 shorts, and a couple $5 tees. I picked up a few toiletries and priced some other items for the patio as well. Their furniture selection kind of sucks, but accessories wise I think I found some good shit.

Living on the second floor is usually good for privacy. However, our patio is wide open. We used to have a huge tree right next to us but the town cut it down so you can basically see everything going on up here. In wanting to fix this, I began searching for ways to cover up the patio without it being a total eyesore. I’ve found some 6’x6′ blinds that are only about $10 each, so if I were to get two of them I could just block off the whole side and not have to worry about anything. I’ve spoken to my dad about it, and he seems interested so I think we’ll take a drive out there this weekend and maybe pick them up.

Referral woe’s
I’m waiting for my 10th referral to go through for the Camera offer, and very patiently at that. This girl has signed up for me TWICE and neither one has been credited. I figured I’d wait a few business days in case there’s some kind of a delay but I’m to a point now that I have no idea if they’re going to even go through at all and I only have until the 30th.

Gratis has updated their prizes though. Instead of an 8megapixel Olympus being their ‘best’ camera, they now have a 9 mega pixel Fuji. I know that considering I’d only be using the images on the web, that having anything more than a 6 mega pixel is unimportant but I’m a bit confused as to which one I’m going to get. I’m leaning towards the 9 mega pixel, not for the quality but because of all that comes with it. There’s only a 16mb flash card, but right now I could order a 1gb card from Microcenter for like $30.00. So I’ll just cross that bridge when I get there.

Work..work…work
I’ve been ASS DEEP in code for the last three days. I swear I’m beginning to dream in PHP. It’s nothing but if-than statements circulating through my mind and it’s driving me bananas. I’ve got about 50% of the work completed, which is great considering I’m ahead of schedule (by 6 days at least). I hope to have everything completed a week earlier than my original due-date. A lot of it is template based, I completed the PHPSurveyor template in 6 hours, he was expecting something like 2 days. I’m slowly working on the Moodle template which I know will take me at least 3 days considering all of the template files that come with it. The client assumes it’s going to take me at least a week. I’m just hoping I’ll be able to exceed his expectations. If I do, this means A LOT of repeat business because I know he’s got about 5 more domains that he needs setup. With all the repeat business I know it’s going to be at least another 4g’s worth of work coming in through him, which is fine and dandy for me.

As far as Source-1 goes, outsourcing is still on hold because a client hasn’t paid up. Once he does pay, the boss told me that some jobs would be coming my way so I’ll have more to put into my car fund as time goes by. All I know is that May is still looking up to be quite a good month, so I’m definitely happy about this.

School
I got my final grades on those essays. I’m graduating with an 89% average, which is fine for me. I’m pissed about my grades though. My Auto-Biography only got a 70% because I didn’t give enough detail. My book report got an 80% because I gave too much detail. :blinks: I wish this damn school would just make up their minds. I can’t get my diploma unless I finish paying for the course. I can either send them a check for $350 or I can wait 10 months for it to be paid off in full. Either way doesn’t matter too much to me, at least I’m finished with it.

Bella
I’m bringing Bella to the groomer tomorrow morning. Her hair is too shaggy and she’s getting a little knotted. It’s also going to be rather hot this summer, considering that it’s only spring and today was a whopping 90°. I’m sure she’ll look like a little alien though. I’m getting her shaved completely. When I said that to the groomer on the phone she kind of stuttered a bit, but it’s my dog I can shave her if I want to. :humph: ~~I’ll have a picture of it tomorrow afternoon when I pick her up.~~

[edit] – So here’s a few before/after pics. Not the best considering my cam isn’t cooperating much lately (damn batteries).

[/edit]

In any event….I’m on my dinner break so I think I’ll start returning some of the comments from the previous entry, thanks guys!

Posted in Daily, Randomage, Work | 17 Comments »

Screw April…yay May!

Monday, May 1st, 2006

As of midnight it’s officially May. In keeping with the usual “new theme every month” routine, there’s a new template up. I thought it felt very spring-like without being a total eyesore, to me at least. I’m happy with how it came out though. I haven’t really experimented with colors this way before so I was glad to do it.

Work Related…
I’ve been kind of busy lately. I’m happy to announce that I’ve landed a very, very big client and I’ll be working with him for the next couple of weeks. I’m getting about $1800 from this project and it couldn’t have come at a better time. I’m to a point now where I have a whopping $52.54 in my bank account and there are quite a few bills to pay. Fortunately I’ve got the servers on credit for the month, so I’m going to wind up having to pay them off when I get the remaining 80% from this client. That’s not too big of a deal though, I’m not overly concerned. Tony knows I’m good for the money and that’s all that matters.

I’m just going to be VERY, VERY busy for the next couple of weeks. I don’t mind though, I kind of need that right now. April 27th 2006 would have been Joe’s 25th birthday. Unfortunately, since his death, I haven’t really done any work. I’ve done a few odd and end jobs, but other then that I haven’t really done any corporate based accounts (that’s where the real money is). Thankfully this client will get me out of my rut. All summer plans should now be full speed ahead.

Laptop Related…
I jumped the gun a few weeks ago and already purchased my wireless router. It only cost me like $5 so it was definitely not a dent in any sort of spending budget. The router originally was $69.99, it was on sale for $49.99 and I had about $50 in gift certificates to Circuit City. I basically just paid tax on it. So, I’ve got my router. In a few weeks (when I get my final check from this client) I’ll be heading to HP.com and putting my order through on the dv800z laptop. After configuration and tax, and before the $50 mail-in rebate, it’s going to run me $1,423; which is fine considering that’s $77 under budget. I’m still getting $50 back on it so then it’s really $127 under budget. I’ll then be heading to NewEgg.com and ordering my mouse and flash drive. My printer is a piece of shit, so I’ll be unable to network it so that I can print from the Laptop. The flash drive is easier than hooking up a USB/ZIP drive and transferring everything over. So I’ll just spend $15 on a 1-gb flash stick and the rest is history.

School Related…
I’m still waiting to hear something from school. I was finally emailed back about my essays. I sent the essays out on April 3rd, apparently they didn’t get there until April 11th, which I find to be a bit weird considering they were only sent upstate. I don’t know how long it takes for them to actually GRADE the essays and I’ll tell you that it’s ticking me off to no end that they haven’t even been looked at yet. I worked really, really hard on them and it’s kind of annoying that they’re taking their sweet time. I’m thinking that’s based on the fact that I’m paying for school monthly though. If I would have just given them the $550 up front, I’m sure that it would have been graded already. But since I have another 10 months left before it’s fully paid off, then obviously they can take all the time they want.

This doesn’t mean I’m not going to keep pushing it though. I’d like to get my degree ASAP damn it.

Miscellaneous…
Tax season has come and gone. Dad’s getting back about $5,000 and I owe money, but hey – that’s life! He’s made it a point to say that he’s going to be getting new couches for the living room. Many of you may (or may not) know that a little over a year ago I bought a big double seater wicker chair off Ebay. It was in my room for the first six months or so and then we started moving things around for Christmas and realized we needed another couch in there. So now, I?¢‚Ç¨‚Ñ¢m couch-less. At the time of my purchase, we only had a loveseat and a chair in the living room. The love-seat we’ve had for about 10 years and it was falling apart when we got it. So now, we’re going to head over to some close-out furniture store and pick up a nice new set for about $500. I kind of thought it was going to be an uncomfortable set considering the price, but once I sat down I was in HEAVEN, my back didn’t bother me AT ALL and that’s a very, very rare thing these days. So thankfully in a few weeks I’ll be able to get my couch back in here, this way I’m not stuck in my bed whenever I’m reading. Usually it’s comfortable but now I’m going on six months without any kind of comfort what so ever. :hmph:

So if you haven’t already picked up on it, I’m rather excited about May. March and April turned out to be some very shitty months, I’ll be glad to start picking up and moving on. I’m still very upset about Joe’s passing, but for the most part I know that he’s still here with me, and that’s helping me to wake up in the morning. I guess that’s all that matters.

Site Related
I’ve gotten myself back into a few comment sites. Despair, Exentrique and of course Xposure. Sofar I’m content with them, I’ve already been yelled at by a member or two because I report users who don’t comment, sorry for ya but I follow the rules…unlike you. I’ve wanted to get Provance back up and running for quite some time but am unable to afford the script. I’m really, really ticked off that Russ bought it and let it fucking die the way it did. I’d beat him for it, if he wasn’t MIA for crying out loud.

AcidGloss Related
After a very long down time AcidGlossNET is finally back up and running. My portfolio, as well as design site is all setup into one big site that I’m actually HAPPY with. I intend to add more to it over time, but it’s going to take a little while. I figure, in order to keep on top of things, I’ll just add sites as I create them. It makes things easier.

In any event, this post has gotten a little too long and I’m sure you’re growing bored of it, so I’m going to head off.

What do you guys think of the new theme? Is it colorful enough for you? haha

Posted in School, Sitely, Soul Mate, Work | 26 Comments »

Network Neutrality

Tuesday, April 25th, 2006

Sean brought a few websites to my attention today and based on the fact that everyone whom visits here obviously uses the internet (in some form or another) you should be interested in this.

Quoted from – savetheinternet.com.

What is network neutrality?
Network neutrality ?¢‚Ç¨‚Äù or “net neutrality” for short ?¢‚Ç¨‚Äù is the guiding principle that preserves the free and open Internet.

Net neutrality ensures that all users can access the content or run the applications and devices of their choice. With net neutrality, the network’s only job is to move data ?¢‚Ç¨‚Äù not choose which data to privilege with higher quality service.

Net neutrality is the reason why the Internet has driven economic innovation, democratic participation, and free speech online ?¢‚Ç¨‚Äù and the public demands Congress not dismantle it. It’s why the Internet has become an unrivaled environment for open communications, civic involvement and free speech.

What’s at stake?
Decisions being made now will shape the future of the Internet for a generation. Before long, all media ?¢‚Ç¨‚Äù TV, phone and the Web ?¢‚Ç¨‚Äù will come to your home via the same broadband connection. The dispute over net neutrality is about who’ll control access to new and emerging technologies.

On the Internet, consumers are in ultimate control ?¢‚Ç¨‚Äù deciding between content, applications and services available anywhere, no matter who owns the network. There’s no middleman. But without net neutrality, the Internet will look more like cable TV. Network owners will decide which channels, content and applications are available; consumers will have to choose from their menu.

The Internet has always been driven by innovation. Web sites and services succeeded or failed on their own merit. Without net neutrality, decisions now made collectively by millions of users will be made in corporate boardrooms. The choice we face now is whether people can choose the content and services they want, or whether the broadband barons will choose for them.

What can I do to help?
Sign the savetheinternet.com petition.

Call your representatives today ?¢‚Ç¨‚Äù especially if they’re on the House Commerce Committee ?¢‚Ç¨‚Äù and demand that net neutrality be protected.

Encourage groups you’re part of to please join the SavetheInternet.com Coalition.

Tell your friends about this crucial issue before it’s too late.

So, as you can see I’m asking you to head over to savetheinternet.com and sign this petition. Do not let ISP’s regulate our internet services.

Posted in Discussion, The Web | 10 Comments »

Bad Business Etiquette?

Tuesday, April 18th, 2006

I’ve noticed a trend with fellow webmasters that I’m just not too crazy about. With the rise of blogs on the ‘net, it’s almost inevitable that someone will find you and ask you to design a theme for them. This is just fine and dandy because all money is good money.

The problem I have is with those who get paid and don’t actually do any work. I surfed through a few portfolios today the running theme between them all was the fact that they were all based on the SAME theme. The only thing that was changed was the header image. Now, normally I wouldn’t really notice but I found this to be a little absurd. One girl was basically charging $50 for WordPress themes that were all using the same code. The only changes were in the header images and CSS coloring. I went through her ‘theme preview’ and saw that all coding was the same.

If she was charging $50 for amazing images, then of course I would understand. But she’s not…it’s like she’s surfing through Getty images, and cropping the watermark out and then slapping it onto the template. If someone wants a simple theme – fine go for it – but when you’re paying $50 for something, you’d expect that person to spend more than FIVE MINUTES working on your theme, wouldn’t you?

I work on the ‘net, it’s my main income right now. I make it a point for every single client to start from scratch. Yes, as far as the WordPress files go for index.php and comments.php I take the ‘classic’ theme and edit it to match the particular theme I’m working on. However, the outcome of each theme looks different 99.9% of the time. I’m not taking the same two-three column layout, strapping a header image into it and then edit style.css – that isn’t WORK, that’s called screwing over a customer. The idea is to make the customer HAPPY this way they are a RETURN CUSTOMER. If you screw the customer over, there’s the chance that they just won’t come back a second time. If they do, then abuse it because they’re idiots and don’t know any better anyway.

I just can’t understand how anyone could recycle a layout (probably the same code they use on their OWN blog) and edit a few things then turn around and sell it for $50-$100. I find it to be completely absurd.

Maybe it’s because I’ve run my own business for so long…or maybe it’s because I have respect for my clients. Who knows? I just don’t quite understand how people could do such things. I’m aware of the fact that 50% of the internet is brain-dead, but good lord taking them for granted is just horribly bad business etiquette.

So, answer me this – Do you think it is acceptable to charge $50-$100 for something you?¢‚Ç¨‚Ñ¢ve put five minutes of work into?

Comment your little hearts out, I?¢‚Ç¨‚Ñ¢d really like to know what someone else thinks.

Posted in Discussion | 29 Comments »

I’m just confused…

Friday, April 14th, 2006

After Joe died, I had no concentration level whatsoever. It took me almost a month to get back into the swing of things, especially with school.

I finally picked myself up and said “Okay, it’s time to get back to business.” I went ahead and completed the multiple-choice questions connected to my final course (English). I also completed the two essays required for this particular module. Upon the completion of this module, I’m basically finished with school. All I have to do is wait for them to grade the essays and then send me my degree.

The problem: They’re taking their fucking sweet assed time grading my essays!

I’ve worked very hard to get into school, and twice as hard to maintain a 95/100 average. I’ve emailed them three times and no response IN A WEEK. I’ve called them, and it seems that ALL OF THEIR LINES WERE BUSY! I’m so completely and totally annoyed about this, it’s not even funny.

I want to get a job outside of the house that doesn’t require bagging groceries. No there’s nothing wrong with bagging groceries – it’s a living…but not one that I want to do again. Been there, done that!

All I want is to get my degree so I can head up to the hospital and file an application. Then I can finally get out of the house during the day instead of sitting here WAITING like a little puppy for work to come in.

Is that so wrong of me? Am I like shooting my goals TOO HIGH? I just don’t understand?¢‚Ç¨¬¶I really don’t. I’m almost completely at the end of my rope. People are dropping like flies around me, I have hardly any money coming in (other than hosting fee’s that all go right back to the server). I just don’t get it.

In situations like these, the one person I would go to is Joe. He was my crutch and that crutch is long since gone. And even though I’ve turned into a schizoid and still talk to him on occasion as though he’s sitting right here, there’s never any kind of response that sets my mind at ease. I know it’s pathetic, I’m fully admitting to that. I just don’t know how to deal with it any other way. It’s been a month (as of April 7th) and I’m still waiting for him to call me and tell me it was all just a cruel joke and he’s been on vacation or something.

How does someone get through the rest of their life when their life-line has basically been sliced, diced, and julienned? Please, answer this for me because I really don’t understand.

I’ve had people tell me that I have to start taking care of myself, I have the ability to get through things on my own, blah blah blah. I am independant, that’s not the point. Everyone, no matter who you are, has that ONE person in their life that they can go to for emotional support. Whether it be a family member, friend, boyfriend/girlfriend, husband or wife, that person is there for you 100% whenever you need them.

Yes, I have Alicia, John, Heather, Christie, Stick Boy, Miranda, and the list continues. I love them all, but all of them combined will never have the same kind of effect on me that Joe did. He was at my beck and call for six years, six fucking years, and now I’m left here in the dark wondering when he’s going to pop up and let me know that everything will be ok.

I’ve closely considered going to one of those John Edward seminars, but there would really be no point in that. The only questions I have for Joe are very simple ones that are yes and no answers. One of those “Tap twice for yes, once for no” kind of responses.

#1 – Did you die peacefully? Yes, I’m aware of the fact that you were in constant pain because of your illness, and were very sick the night that you passed away. But was it a very painful death or did you just fall asleep and not wake up?

#2 – Are you still here? I just need to know if you’re still watching over me the way you used to. Always being at my side was something you probably did better than anyone. Yes, we faught, every relationship has its downfalls, but are you still at least here to keep an eye on me and nudge me when I’m doing something stupid?

#3 – Are you proud of me? You were the driving force behind my going back to school, you were going to be there to see me through it and help me with anything I didn’t understand. You held up to your end of the bargain, you showed up here when you were supposed to go somewhere else just to help me get through my Chemistry homework. Why couldn’t you be here long enough to see that it paid off and I’m finally graduating? I looked to you for everything because I know you’d never steer me in the wrong direction. Are you at least proud that I’ve now reached my goal?

I’ve written the same three questions down over, and over again. Few have told me to write him a letter, that’s as far as I can go without completely and totally breaking down. Yes, that are three literal questions from my private journal.

I’m just……BAH!

Posted in School, Soul Mate | 4 Comments »

Son of a …. GRRR!!

Wednesday, April 12th, 2006

I’m so fucking annoyed right now it’s not even funny. I went grocery shopping with my sister because there’s like no food in the house. Dad gave me money (just in case) because he knew that business has been slow these past couple of weeks. I went to charge the groceries on my card so that I didn’t HAVE to use my dads money and for some god forsaken reason (yesterday) I was hit with an overdraft fee that left -$35 in my bank account. So I wound up having to use the money he gave me, which I’m very unhappy about. I have no money, and no patience. It’s starting to really tick me off.

I can’t do anything with Source-1 at the moment because out-sourcing is on hold until some stupid client actually PAYS for the site he’s HAD for the last month. So now I have to do any and everything I can to push AGn Solutions or head down to freaking CVS and wonder if they’d hire me again. According to my last manager there, he didn’t put me down as ‘Unhirable’ but of course the fucking bastard Allan didn’t like me and probably changed that anyway.

I don’t know what the hell to do. I really do need business to pick up though, so I’m gonna throw a few things out there:

$20 Deal – Webhosting, Domain Purchase, Website Template.
$30 Deal – Webhosting, Domain Purchase, Website Template, Lifetime Advertising in 468 rotation.
$40 Deal – Webhosting, Domain Purchase, Website Template, Lifetime Advertising in BOTH 468×60 & 200×40 rotations.

So I’m basically offering complete and total site designs plus advertising. The $20 is an 80% off kind of a thing, I’d like to think that’s fairly reasonable.

As you may, or may not know, I’ve redone my Advertising.

468×60 Rotation – $3 a month or $15 a year.
200×40 Rotation – $1 a month or $10 a year.

Right now I’m down to my last 6 people for the notebook offer. The faster I can get those knocked out, the faster I can get the $1800 and get out of this rut. If you have a credit card, and are willing to get AOL for a week, then please sign up and complete an offer. It will cost you absolutely no money at all and you’re still helping me get my last credits.

If you can’t sign up, would you be willing to put my link on your site? If so, please email me (or comment here) and let me know. Unfortunately only USA / Canada / UK residents can be involved in completing offers, which sucks because I know people from all over the world who want to help me out 🙁

http://www.notebooks4free.com/default.aspx?r=312353 – That’s the full referral link.

I really see no other options at the moment, I’m about to take a walk down to Petco and Eckerd and see what they’re doing. I’m so pissed off it’s not even funny. I don’t even have any money to get a pack of cigs and my nerves are totally on edge right now :grrr:

Posted in Randomage | 3 Comments »

Ehh..

Tuesday, April 11th, 2006

I had a rather uneventful weekend. For some reason on Friday night I could NOT fall asleep for the life of me. So I just decided to stay up all day on Saturday and then crash on Saturday night. It worked, after a quick half hour nap (which I think I was standing up for…oddly enough). I managed to stay awake until about midnight then I totally crashed until about 11:30 on Sunday morning. The longest night of sleep I’ve had in a very, very long time. I woke up feeling tired as hell though, so although the sleep was nice, the over sleep really wasn’t.

I spent some time with Alicia on Sunday. We drove around a little bit, wound up at the beach and then back to her house for a little while. Then I came home and made it a point to be extra lazy. I wasn’t really in the mood to deal with my sister, or the dog for that matter, so I locked ’em both out of my room and continued reading my book.

I’m reading Messenger by Edward Lee. So far it’s pretty good, it’s about postal workers gone…well…postal. Death is flying out the wazoo in this book. I’ve never read anything by Edward Lee before, but I saw the book in the 2-for-$5 bin at Eckerd and figured I’d give it a shot. I picked up another one but I don’t even remember the title of it, it’s sitting on top of my TV but I just don’t feel like stretching to find it…heh.

Messenger by Edward Lee A little bit of Hell has just come to earth. Would you like to become someone else? Well, someone else is about to become you. He will share your heart and your mind, he will seep into your body, he will feel all your ecstasy… And then he will take you on a slaughter fest. Occult rites. Ritualistic murder. You have become possessed. But not by a ghost. Not by a demon. It’s something much worse. Just as God has a messenger, so does the devil, and that messenger is here, now, in your town. He has a message to send…The Messenger. A diabolical novel of ultimate erotic horror…

It’s a bit bloody, quite gory and if you don’t have a strong stomach then I wouldn’t recommend it. I’m an evil person in general. So that’s mainly why I find it as interesting as it is. If you can handle the descriptions of someone being sliced stem to stern with a machete then I think you’ll do just fine and I’d definitely recommend the book.

In other news, thanks to Stacee I’m now one referral away from my digital camera. I’m still offering $20 to ANYONE in the USA or Canada who can sign up, complete an offer and then email me once their account shows as valid. There was a bit of confusion with my previous post, and one very, very RUDE person who DEMANDED the $20 because they’d SIGNED UP, and didn’t complete an offer. The steps are simple.

#1 – Get your credit card out.
#2 – Click on my referral link and sign up for an account
#3 – Ignore the small survey and continue to your account page.
#4 – Click “Complete Offer”, choose an offer. Blockbuster.com is instant and will cost you $9.99. “Get a free $40 gas card!” costs $1 and takes 2-3 business days.
#5 – Once you’ve completed this offer please wait a few days, or minutes (depending on the offer). Once I get a notification telling me that your account is valid, I expect to receive an email from YOU telling me the same thing.

Once those steps are completed, we’ll discuss what you want in return, a quick recap:

#1 – $20 OR a domain & hosting – you choose ONE, not both!
#2 – Lifetime advertising in the 468×60 rotation, a $50 value (no matter which #1 you choose)
#3 ?¢‚Ç¨‚Äú Personal weblog template, a $50 value.

So in reality, you’re getting $120 worth of stuff, just for spending $1 – $10 completing an offer for me.

Posted in Friends | 7 Comments »

Yes, $20!

Thursday, April 6th, 2006

I’m currently TWO referrals away from my digital camera. I’m now offering $20 OR a free domain and hosting for these last two referrals.

I’m going to strongly recommend the blockbuster.com offer, it’s $9.99 but you’re basically renting free movies on MY DOLLAR for the next month or even next couple of days and getting $10 on top of it. This particular offer is instant credit and I hope to be able to cash out by Monday. I’d just like to be completely said and done with this offer. There’s now a 90 day limit on referrals with Gratis and I can’t process anything without your help. I have until 5/30 to find these last two people. But I also have until 5/30 to find the last SIX people I need for the desktop offer, which is why I want to be said and done with this camera offer as soon as possible.

So, click here and sign up under my referral, complete one offer, email me when you’ve done so. Once I see your account as ‘valid’ you’ll receive $20 via paypal OR I’ll go ahead and register a domain for you (.net .com .org .info .biz ONLY).

I’m ALSO including LIFETIME advertising in the 468×60 rotation AND a blog template (based on the platform of your choice). So basically you’re getting $50+ worth of freebies in return as a thank you from me.

So please, take five minutes and sign up under my referral. You?¢‚Ç¨‚Ñ¢re getting $20, 468×60 advertising, AND a blog template. You truly can not go wrong with that.

http://digitalcameras.freepay.com/?r=16646776

This is a legit company, I’ve received my iPod AND my TV from them, they’ll definitely come through.

http://digitalcameras.freepay.com/?r=16646776

Posted in Randomage | 7 Comments »

So, I cooked today.

Tuesday, April 4th, 2006

I woke up today with a goal. A goal of actually getting back to normal. Now, the last time I made Mac&Cheese was the last time I saw Joe. He loved it, and I loved making it for him, so I always made it a point to make him happy – which would then make ME happy.

Since his death, I’ve had absolutely no drive to make it – just sad memories of sitting at the kitchen table watching him shovel it in as though it were his last meal. However, my love of cheese will not die with Joe, it will die with me!

So, onto a very, very image heavy post
(more…)

Posted in Randomage | 21 Comments »

It’s all coming together…

Monday, April 3rd, 2006

It took me a little longer than expected but I finally completed my last essay. I’ve got both essays in their cute little pre-paid envelopes and Dad will be dropping them off at the post office on his way to work tomorrow. I can’t WAIT to get the notifications that I’m officially done with the course.

AND – I’m actually doing REALLY WELL on referrals right now. Based on the emails I’ve received I have about 12 valid signups and considering I only needed 9 I’m very happy about it. I’m waiting for them all to clear and then I’ll go ahead and cash out my $1800. Business has also picked up a little bit so I won’t have to dip into the $1800 for a new monitor. Instead I can use that $200 on a nice setup for the porch.

The new table and chairs are only going to run me about $80, which is great considering the SIZE of the table. I’m then going to head over to Wal-Mart and load up on pots and soil because Roll ‘n Grow is A LOT cheaper then going out and buying a whole heap of plants that I’ll have to move around from their original casing to soil anyway. In this case I can just cut a few strips to the proper sized pots and then watch them spurt out in about a month or so. I’ll LOVE it haha. I’m excited too. All bills will be paid off, a few gifts will be given out and some money will go aside for my father’s birthday as well as my sisters. The rest is gravy.

I’ll keep about $200 aside for the BBQ this summer, which (if all goes well) I’ll definitely be having. I know Christie will be VERY happy about that too.

I can’t wait, I’m just antsy now. March was a really shitty month but April is definitely looking a lot better.

Posted in Daily, Randomage | 4 Comments »

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