Wow - as of today, I'm a quarter-century old! =o

Things got shifted around a bit this weekend...

Since Dad had to leave early for work yesterday and because there was a dinner at church today, we had to go to Red Lobster on Saturday (instead of today)...and it was an early supper instead of a late one. I got the lobster tail and shrimp dinner, which was pretty good - the meat from the lobster tail was a lot like the crab legs I tried two years ago...except with a slightly different texture (the taste was pretty much the same to me) and - more importantly, since the tail was already split open with the meat sitting on top of it when I got it - nowhere near as difficult to take apart. Just like last year, I also got a slice of cake (and a song ;P), but this time around it came with two scoops of vanilla ice cream, with fudge striped across them. Two years ago, I said I would be getting lobster on my 25^th birthday, and I did! =D

After we came home from church today, Mom went out on her bike and Dad stayed at home to sleep. I had to help out both of them a few hours later - Dad seemed to be coming down with something and Mom had wrecked while on her bike (hurting her arm, but fortunately didn't appear to have broken anything). We still managed to have dinner and a birthday cake, though...but the writing on this cake read "Happy 25^th Birthday Einstein" - it's the first time I've seen his name in place of mine, and I think I know why ;P

Over the weekend, I got a few calls and cards (with money) from friends and relatives who wanted to wish me a Happy Birthday - these are always nice things to get =)

As for presents: I got a new computer! Well, sort of...I purchased a few parts from other places - the monitor and RAM - and got them about a week early. Since I hesitated for awhile before actually ordering the computer (that's my own fault), it won't be here till after my birthday =(

As for what I got:

• Dell Inspiron 530: I couldn't get a custom-built system this time, due to the early presents I got (my new bed and bedroom furniture) and the fact that quite a few things around the house have reached the point where they either need fixed or replaced. However, when I was still employed, a friend at work who - among other things - fixed up employee's computers (and had also helped put together my current computer), suggested I buy one from Dell. The one I had used at work, a Dell Dimension 8300, worked great after adding an extra gigabyte of RAM (up from 512 MB, for programs like Virtual PC), so why not get one for myself? Here's what I got that differed from the defaults for that system:

  (NOTE: For this part, "new computer" refers to the one I got for my birthday, "current computer" refers to the one I'm using right now, and "old computer" refers to the one I haven't used for a long time and will be getting rid of soon.)

  • Processor: I didn't want to get a processor that was slower than the one in my current computer, so I got their best one: an Intel Core 2 Quad Processor Q6600 (8MB L2 cache, 2.4GHz, 1066FSB).
  • Operating System: I'm far more used to XP than Vista on the systems I've worked with...so I got Windows XP (Professional) with this system.
  • Monitor: I opted to not get a monitor, since there was one I wanted to get that I knew would work great - the same kind I bought for my birthday a year earlier, a Samsung SyncMaster 206BW.
  • RAM: I went with the default of 1 GB (at 667 MHz), since it was actually cheaper for me to get more RAM separately. After all, why get their highest amount, 4 GB of RAM (at 800 MHz) from Dell for $180, when I could get the same thing from Crucial for just slightly more than half that price?
  • Video Card: I went with their default selection (Intel Graphics Media Accelerator 3100) as - once again - I got a better deal separately...but interestingly enough, that deal was offered by Dell, just not directly with the computer I ordered. I got a GeForce 8600 GT (512 MB) - for comparison, the one in my current computer is a Radeon 8500 (64 MB).
  • Card Reader: Rather than constantly hook up / remove the external card reader I have, I got their built-in 19-in-1 reader...which means I can continue to use the external card reader on the current computer when I need it.
  • Speakers: Since the speakers I have now will remain with the current computer, I got the Klipsch Promedia 2.1 Speaker System for the new computer.
  • Software: None - I've already got what I need, and can install it on this computer myself.
  • Mouse and Keyboard: I got the Dell USB Multimedia Keyboard and Optical USB Mouse...but it was more for the keyboard, as its appearance (and wrist rest) is like my current keyboard. I couldn't determine if the mouse it comes with has side buttons like my current one, but if not, that won't be a problem - I have a spare mouse that does, and will just hook that one up to this computer in that case.
  • Extra Products: My current USB flash drive (GigaBank, 4 GB, by I/O Magic) is showing its age...so I got the two-pack of Cruzer Micro, 4 GB flash drives (by SanDisk) to replace it. Even though I only need one, I wasn't going to pass this up, considering that - to me - the price was a steal - two of these for $50 ($25 apiece) at the time I got them, compared to when I got one 4 GB GigaBank for $200! I'll be removing the U3 software from both of them (replacing it with PortableApps) and will give the other one to my parents, in case they need it for transferring things to/from other people's systems.
  • Recycling: I'll be recycling my old computer with Dell. The only thing that one has been doing is taking up space - it won't boot up properly anymore (no Linux distributions work and, though I could format and reinstall Windows, it's not really worth it, given the age of the computer and the parts it has) and the monitor's starting to go. For security, I'll run a formatting and overwriting tool on it (twice - I'm a little paranoid about things like this) before sending it away.
• Money: Some relatives wanted to get me things for my birthday...but since I can't think of that much to get anymore, they just got me money instead =)
• Clothes: It just wouldn't be a birthday without getting these =P

Looks like I didn't have to ask about my job after all: when I was going to ask about it last week, my boss mentioned that my last day would be Friday...so I'm back to being unemployed now =(

At home, my bedroom's been undergoing some remodeling, considering how long some of my stuff there has lasted...

(more...)

(This was originally part of the previous entry, but I decided to split it off into its own post.)

Awhile back, I realized that my blog displayed only a basic "Error 404 / File Not Found" error for its pages. I finally got around to fixing it up to display the same information that my current "Error 404 / File Not Found" page has - for those visiting the blog section of my site, that means you can now see the address being looked for, the referring address, notes on what you can do to find what you're looking for, and links back to the previous page, blog and site =)

...

That covers the "update" part - now for the "important" part: I'm looking to combine the separate pieces of my site (a WordPress blog, Tripod-hosted guestbook and hand-coded pages) into one unified piece with the help of a multipurpose CMS - in this case, Drupal. I've been using it at my job for the rebuilding of their site - so I know what it's capable of - and it would be perfect for use with my site. I'll also finally take advantage of the prototype template I mentioned about a long time ago, which will be reconfigured to take advantage of Drupal's theming system.

One thing that could be a problem is that I've heard about issues regarding using Drupal on a Dreamhost-hosted site, and I'm wondering if that may cause problems here, especially since I'm neither the owner of this domain nor (more importantly) this webspace and don't want to cause problems because of that. However, those issues may be regarding high-traffic, multiple-user sites, and my site is neither (definitely not the latter and I doubt the former ;P). Version 6 will be used in this case - I could've started out with 5, but I want to take advantage of 6's improved caching, which may be crucial given what I mentioned at the beginning of this paragraph. I'll put it on the site to see how well it holds up and, if it does OK, I'll get to work on doing what I should've started a long time ago:

Working on the (badly-needed) massive overhaul of my site! ;)

In early January, the "A" key my on desktop computer's split-level keyboard (which, for all the time I had it, worked pretty good) started acting up - I actually had to remove it and push on the area below, that the key pushes into, just to get it to work. Unfortunately, this only worked a few times before nothing (well, nothing outside of just waiting) worked. A few days later, on the 16^th of January, the "Q" and "Z" keys suffered the same problem as well (they're all in the same column, albeit at an angle...). I needed a working keyboard soon, so I decided to swap it out for the one from my old computer (it's a non-split-level keyboard, and the keys are a bit noisy in comparison to the split-level one). It works just fine, and I'll have to get rid of the other one later; on the plus side, I'll be able to get used to a non-split-level keyboard a lot easier now - since that's the layout of my flexible keyboard (and, albeit more compact, my laptop), I might finally be able to switch over to it.

On the 17^th of January, I got stressed out at work: I couldn't eat my lunch and ended up crying when I got home. More or less, I've pretty much lost my will to work at my job: I've been asked a few times to help with things that I have absolutely no idea how to do (and, no matter how hard I try, I can't figure them out - there's no way these things could be covered by my job description), I don't hear anything back regarding hiring me for a permanent job, etc. My parents told me to tell my boss that "I'm burnt out because there's nothing to do, do you have any work for me?", but even so, there's not much that I can do...and though I want to quit, my parents keep telling me to work. I understand that I just can't sit around all the time at home, but how is continuing to work at a job you're now burnt-out with (that has no benefits and pays state minimum wage, which is $7.15/hour in Pennsylvania) any better? I've been rather irritable as of the past few weeks and I think the burnout from my job is directly related to it. After 15 months of this (I started in October 2006), I honestly feel I'm not cut out for long-term work - I enjoyed short-term jobs (no more than a few months) a lot more, probably because of their explicit deadline, which meant that I wouldn't be working so long that I would feel burnt-out.

Between the night of the 2^nd and the morning of the 3^rd of February, it felt hot and I couldn't fall asleep for more than a short time as a result; our furnace is a wood-burning furnace, and there was a lot in it at this time. I got up a few times during the night/morning because of this, and Dad had said I'd have to get up for church. I told him I couldn't fall asleep, and he told me to sleep without my shirt - I didn't bother taking it off as it wasn't a thick shirt, and when taking off a single cover doesn't make a difference for the heat, taking my shirt of wouldn't have helped, either. We continued that discussion, not really getting anywhere (I wanted to sleep in, as I felt very tired from the heat keeping me up), and I ended up walking out of my room and down the stairs. Dad yelled at me for walking away from him when he was talking, and asked me how that made him feel - I agreed about it making him feel bad...but I thought to myself, if he's not going to respect what others have to say (he acts like this around a few other people, too), why should they have to just shut up and listen to him? I ended up going downstairs and slept on the couch there, as it was the coldest room I could find with a couch. I slept in until about 1:30 PM or so, then got up to get a shower, and then heard Dad call - recalling what he said earlier, I purposely ignored it. He called again later and, since he might think something was up if I didn't answer, I picked up. He started another argument about me not getting up to go to church, then about setting my alarm...and, though tempted to hang up on him, I didn't. At this point, I no longer felt bad about walking away from him earlier - in fact, I think I'll do that more often to show him how it feels...especially since this has went on for years - if we get in an argument and I try to say something, he just talks (or yells) over me...so I just keep my mouth shut until he's done. I wonder if that attitude of his is the reason I don't bother to stand up for myself...

Back to my job: a few weeks ago, I found out about a permanent position that was up on the site I had been working on (related to the what I'm doing now, and I can handle what it covers). I put my name in for it, and hopefully I'll get the job. I'm going to ask about whether or not they've hired someone next week (it'll be two weeks past the deadline this Monday)...and* if I find out they did hire someone and it wasn't me, I am going to quit. The IT department is understaffed as it is, and I know it'd be cheaper for them to promote me to that job than to have it given to someone new - benefits would have to be given either way, and it'd be cheaper to increase an existing employee's rate (mine) than pay for another new employee.

[Update (2008/03/12, 11:08 PM)]

I didn't ask as my boss "interviewed" me today for the job - I was asked a few questions about being able to handle the tasks it would involve...and that was about it. It wasn't an interview per se since I'm still working there (which is why I put it in quotes), but now I've had one for the job, like the rest of the people who are applying for it. The decision won't be made till next week, so I'll have to wait till then before I find out if I got the job.

[/Update]

Happy New Year!

(Heh...it's getting harder and harder to come up with clever titles =P)

[EDIT (2008/01/01, 12:10 AM): Not even ten seconds passed after the ball dropped and our power quickly went out a few times - it lasted only a few seconds at most, and everything seems OK now. Either someone pulled some kind of stunt - with great timing - or this was a really eerie coincidence...perhaps it's the Y2K8 bug? ;P]

I've been really busy lately, which is why I haven't posted here in so long...and that rant I mentioned in my last post will have to wait.

I got quite a few gifts this time, and can also be a little more specific about some things as well:

• On December 21, at work:
  • Two scratch-off lottery tickets: $6 total (one $1 and one $5). I have yet to scratch them off ;P
  • A hand-crank LED flashlight: my Dad got one of these awhile back, but now I've got one of my own! The only real differences between them are that mine is blue (his is silver, which I think is the standard color for them) and has a little "crest" (for show) near the front. There is nothing on the flashlight to identify its brand, but from what I have read, Apex Technologies is the only one that puts that kind of "crest" on their models.
  • A cup that looks like Santa's head. It can be used for candy, and was full of Reeses when I got it =)
• On December 23, at my one aunt's house:
  • $40 cash (in a card)
  • Body Wash
  • Staples Gift Card ($25)
  • Bathroom Book of Cartoons
• And that night, at Granny's house:
  • A thin - yet plush-feeling - blanket for my bed, to replace (or sit on top of) one that doesn't stay in place because it's too short for this type of bed.
  • Pants
  • Planter's Pistachio Lover's Mix
  • Uncle John's Triumphant 20^th Anniversary Bathroom Reader
  • Uncle John's Presents The Ultimate Challenge Trivia Quiz
• I didn't get anything on the 24^th - we went to the Christmas Eve service and then dropped off a few presents at Granny's.
• On December 25, we invited some of my Dad's relatives over for breakfast - in particular, Grandma and my aunt (who lives with her), another aunt and uncle, and their children. My parents served eggnog pancakes, bacon, eggs and toast, and the meal was pretty good. The families talked with each other for a while and before they left, I opened the presents I got from them:
  • From my Grandma and Aunt:
    • A card with $70 ($20 from my aunt, $50 from Grandma)
    • "How Come?": Every Kid's Science Question Explained
    • Uncle John's Unstoppable Bathroom Reader Page-A-Day Calendar
  • And from my parents:
    • $50 in cash
    • Uncle John's Bathroom Reader: Wonderful World of Odd
    • Candy (some of which was of the chocolate-coated variety)
    • Clothes (some of which, as usual, had to be exchanged =P)
    • Aftershave
  • And finally, the gifts I said I wanted for Christmas:
    • External Hard Drive (Maxtor OneTouch 4, 250 GB) - now I have something to back up my data onto, that actually has enough room for it =D Also, this came with not one, but two iPod Shuffle USB Travel Docks (Marware, a $39.98 value - $19.99 apiece)...but I don't have an iPod Shuffle. I'll see if I can find anyone that wants them, as they are of no use to me.
    • Flexible Keyboard (GrandTec, GlowType) - the keys on my laptop are a bit cramped, and I don't have a separate number pad (which makes it tricky to operate certain programs). This takes care of both of those problems: it provides a layout just like a standard keyboard and has a separate number pad. Not only that, but it has an "On/Off" switch for lighting (you'd think it'd naturally be glow-in-the-dark because of the name and its appearance - it isn't - but it sure looks like it when that's turned on and the lights are off) and is flexible - I can roll it up to take it with me in my laptop case =D It will take some time to get used to, due to the nature of the keyboard (the silicone-enclosed keys shift slightly when typing and, to allow it to be rolled up, some keys were split up into multiple keys), but I feel it'll come in very handy in the future =)
    • USB Hub (Belkin, 4-Port USB 2.0 Plus Hub) - my laptop only has three USB ports, and the mouse plus keyboard take up two. With this hub, however, I can have six devices plugged in (actually seven, but the net total is six: three ports on the laptop, minus one for the hub, plus the four it provides), and currently have four to spare (the mouse and keyboard take up two of those six ports).
  • After the gifts were opened, we went to Grandma's for dinner and I got a present that was accidentally forgotten about earlier:
    • A tie clasp: it was silver-colored, with a chain-link piece connecting the sides. This is like one I already have, but the links in the chain-link piece for that one are long and somewhat oval-shaped - the links for the one I got were small and circular.
• On the 28^th, I got two more presents:
  • $40 in a little tuxedo-shaped card / money holder, from another aunt (not one of the ones that came over, though).
  • A Craftsman offset screwdriver, from my Dad. He got it for me as a result of the issues I had when taking the hard drive out of my one Aunt's computer, as some of the screws holding it in place could only be taken out with a Phillips-head screwdriver, bent at 90°...and that is exactly what that tool is for (which also has a slotted head) =)

That should cover everything...and that's a lot of stuff!

The hard drive will be shared between my three computers (old desktop, new desktop and the laptop - the total combined capacity of their drives is less than the capacity of this one), which will finally give me a reliable method (relative to what I used in the past...) for backing things up. Not only that, but I'll eventually be formatting all three (once I back stuff up, of course ;P) so I can do a clean install on all of them (and get the old desktop running again). This time around, I'll take better care of them so they won't have the problems that developed from my past inexperience.

The keyboard and hub are exclusively for my laptop, so I'll have what I need to finally break away from my desktop...and be able to take my work with me, instead of being bound to a single room in the house...

2007 was just...busy - I really fell behind on a lot. Hopefully 2008 will be better - I have some resolutions in mind, though I'm only going to post a basic outline of them right now, as it'll take some time to specify them in detail (they're all interconnected, to an extent):

• Becoming a little more independent. Due to my Asperger's, I'll never be fully independent, but every little bit helps...
• Get out of certain jobs I've been stuck with, that also seem to be consuming my parents' lives as well...
• Find some type of work where I can be paid per-task, rather than per-hour.

That's all for now - and like I said, hopefully this year will be better than the last =)

I'm late...but as I promised earlier, here's what I've been up to in the past few months:

The site I've been helping to rebuild has gone live =D Some bugs (that couldn't be fixed prior to the release) still need ironed out, but hopefully the county employees will be able to update their pages on their own now, without putting all the work on one person (guess who =P). Two weeks before going live, I royally screwed up the gallery due to a botched upgrade and had to rebuild it. Fortunately, I could do a bulk upload of those pictures (and albums) from the copy I had on my local computer, and - with some clever searching, replacing and merging - I managed to get the descriptions back as well...that was a close one! An issue with the sidebar in IE7 (a CSS bug I have yet to figure out) and job postings (maybe changing those field names in phpMyAdmin wasn't such a good idea...) are the only two outstanding issues at this time.

I got a nice thank-you from SoulKat, the owner of the Katbox - as well as a few forum members - for a script I made to automate donation counter image generation. It not only has saved (and will save) him quite a bit of time when getting them ready, but it'll also ensure the counters are updated as soon as possible =)

Thanks to a trade-up program that APC's been holding, I decided to replace the UPS I have (a model BR1000, which passed self-testing even though it no longer kicked on during an outage) with a model BR1300LCD - not only can this one give me a few more minutes of power than the last one, but it's got a display that lets me know - among other things - how much load is being placed on it (just a bit over 10% at this time) and the estimated amount of battery time left (39-47 minutes). That's real nice to know, as now I'll have an idea of how much longer I can keep the system on before I should shut it down. Plus, the software they give for use with the UPS works properly this time =)

I also bought a new laptop stand (a model ETCS) to replace my old one, which didn't work too well as the feet kept getting caught in the grooves meant for ventilation. This one, though, unfolds into an "X" shape and, unlike the other one, can properly hold the laptop! I have to adjust it a bit so the feet don't get caught (it's a tight squeeze), but unlike the old one, the laptop doesn't wobble at all (nor does it seem like it's going to slide right off of the stand), so I'll feel much better about using a stand now =)

Also, remember how I mentioned about some lost comments earlier? They're back now =D I went through some backups of my WordPress database, found which ones were missing, and imported them back into the database. I'll be a little more careful next time when messing with my plugins, so I don't wipe out a comment by mistake.

(Speaking of comments: let me know by E-Mail if you can't post here. Late last month, I tried adding new form fields to prevent spam posting, combining it with a trick I used on one of my uncle's websites for this purpose: I added two fields - one pre-filled, one blank, both hidden - that, if either/both were altered, would prevent the comment from being submitted. In the case of my blog, it failed miserably, and spam comments still got through. Since then, I've replaced it with a single field that asks to type in a certain number - found on a certain character's jersey - and no spam comments have been posted since then! Hopefully it's not blocking legitimate comments - I tried it out and it seems to work for me, but there's no way to ensure that it really does work until someone else comments here.)

Finally, my family took a little three-day vacation to Erie from August 24-26, and here's what we did:

• Friday:
  • We went to the Erie Zoo - my parents said I hadn't been there since I was four (and I can't remember anything before I was five, so... =P). Quite a few of the animals were interesting to see, and either a wallaby or kangaroo (I honestly have no idea which one it was) crossed in front of us at one point during that part of the trip. One more thing that happened before we left there was a rainbow lorikeet that got on Dad's shoulder - we took a few pictures, and did the same when it got on my shoulder...though it squawked in my ear quite a few times when they were taking pictures, and my hearing's probably not going to be so good in that ear now =P
  • For supper, we went to Quaker Steak 'n' Lube - it's been a long time since we last went there. Just like last time, I got the boneless Asian Sesame wings, which were really good. At my parent's request, I also tried the pita bread we got with our meals, and it was pretty good as well.
  • After that, we went to the Family First Fun Center and did a few things there. First, we rode the Go-Karts - I slowed down at the beginning due to four cars nearly colliding, and came in close to (if not) last. After that, we played miniature golf...which got interesting: I got a hole-in-one the first hole (!), and Mom also got one later on in the course. Dad had to leave for a few rounds and we played for him until he got back - in the end, he still beat us...mainly since I didn't do as well after the first hole - I ended up in 2^nd place. After that, we got some ice cream (which was pretty good), and headed back to our hotel for the night.
• Saturday:
  • We got to the Waldameer Amusement Park a little early - too early, in fact, as they weren't open yet...so we went over to one of the beaches of Presque Isle for an hour until they were open. When we went back, it wasn't that crowded, and we managed to get on nearly every ride - the wait for most of them was five minutes or less since it wasn't crowded. We got rained on near the end, and tended to be on-and-off rain, usually stopping right before getting to the roofs of certain rides =P
• Sunday:
  • We went to the Carnegie Science Center in Pittsburgh. I've been there quite a few times over the years and - like with Waldameer - a lot was accomplished in the day since there were relatively few people there at this time of year. It wasn't as fun as in the past, though...partly because I'm a little too old for some of the exhibits, and also due to the fact that quite a few exhibits didn't work - that was very surprising, considering that every other time I've been here, this would usually be one or two at most.

The trip was OK, but I didn't really have that much fun overall...and I think I know why. The reason, though, is more of a rant that I'm going to save for a future post (most likely my next one).

I'm not dead yet - just busy, as usual =P I'll have a regular blog post ready sometime later this month.

Anyway, you might have noticed the blog looks different from what it was before - in fact, it bears a striking resemblance to my main site. That's because I finally got off my butt and worked on fixing it up =)

Here's what I did:

1. Backed up all files and database information regarding WordPress.
2. Created a fresh installation of WordPress locally, using XAMPP.
3. Compared the database fields between the fresh installation and the one I had on my site.
4. Dropped all of the tables in the fresh installation's database and imported the contents of my site's in its place; any field not originally present in the fresh installation was excluded.
5. Replaced a few links pointing to my site and blog in the database to point to the local copy of them instead; otherwise, entries would not show up or I would be redirected to my site's blog when viewing the administration pages.
6. Took a look at the local copy to ensure that everything was working properly.
7. Erased all WordPress files on my site and dropped all of its tables from my database.
8. Uploaded the WordPress files and imported the database information from my local copy, changing the site links in #5 back to what they originally were.
9. Downloaded a theme (Barecity) to replace the one I originally had (Steam), and tweaked it to match the layout of my site; I kept the font used earlier on my blog.
10. Reinstalled most of my plugins; I am no longer using a few of them, and one (Filosofo Comments Preview, which provided the "Preview" button) is giving a fatal error when trying to activate it.

Aside from that one plugin, everything is working again (even Spam Karma!), and its layout matches up with the rest of my site now, which is very nice =D

Also, to help protect against spam, old blog entries will have comments closed. This includes any entry which has been around for over one year without comments, or one month from the last posted comment (provided the entry is already a year old; otherwise it will remain open until the later of the two dates). Should you have the need to comment on one of those entries, feel free to let me know and I'll reopen comments on it for one month from the last posted comment after the entry was reopened.

For those of you reading this, I have a few questions:

1. Regarding "Filsofo Comments Preview", if anyone reading my blog uses it:
   1. Did you get a fatal error when trying to activate it?
   2. If so, is there a way to fix this - or something I should check - so I can get it working again?
   3. If not, or if you use a different plugin to provide a "Preview" button, could you tell me what you use? I know I have the "Preview Your Comment" field available (which shows what your comment looks like as you're editing it), but it requires JavaScript to run...and I prefer to have a backup if JavaScript is - for any reason - not available to the user.
2. Regarding the "Creative Commons" license in the footer: This might be a stupid question, but does that cover everything on my site, everything in my blog, or just the blog template? I'm not sure if this is something I should worry about resolving, or if I just misinterpreted it and am worrying about nothing...

That's all I can think of for this entry - just wanted to let all of you know I'm still here =P

It's become something of a saying in our household, as my parents and I have been saying those three words for quite awhile =P

It started a day or two before we went on vacation to North Carolina last year. When we were running water, it would - with no warning - go from a strong flow to a weak trickle, and then stop entirely. This happened when washing dishes/clothes, watering plants, taking a shower, and so on. When it happened, if there was another family member in the house, whoever was running water would have to yell "Hit the breaker!" (or something similar). After that, they would have to wait for them to go the basement and flip the button/switch for the water pump (and later on, the circuit breaker controlling the pump, which is when the saying actually came around) to restore the water pressure...until the next time it went out.

This was especially troublesome when washing dishes or clothes, as you don't want the water pressure to just go down like that all of a sudden. This was a problem for Mom when running the dishwasher or washing machine, as she would have to stay there the entire time in the event the water pressure went down again.

The problem first happened when our well's pump reached the end of its life and went bad, so we had no choice but to replace it. One thing that was found when replacing it was that a wire was worn bare in one spot - it apparently got caught between something and had its insulation rubbed off - but it was not considered to have caused this problem, given its age.

A second pump was put in after that, and we thought this problem would be fixed...but we were wrong: almost every day, at least once, the water flow had suddenly stopped, and one of us (usually me, if I was home) had to run to the basement and press a button on the pump to restore the water pressure. A few months later, we thought that maybe the switch was causing this problem and had replaced it with a new one. This time, however, the water just trickled constantly instead of stopping entirely when the problem occurred, and a switch (instead of a button, as it was a different model) had to be flipped to fix this. Rather than immediately restore the water pressure, it took a few seconds between turning it off and on to work properly, but even turning off any running water for 10-15 seconds also worked. Eventually we just started using the circuit breaker in the laundry room for this, as it was quicker to get to and easier to find.

A few months ago, since this problem still wasn't solved, we thought that maybe our well was collapsing, since nothing else we tried had worked...but if it were collapsing, why did the use of a button/switch/breaker fix this? If anything, the problem should have gradually become worse over time...but it didn't get any worse than when it had started, so that couldn't be it.

On Wednesday of this week, Dad and Pappy put in a third pump, and it had the same problem as the second one...which meant the pump wasn't causing the problem, either - or so it seemed. We were out of water until around 9:00 PM, when they finally figured out the problem, putting an end to this nuisance once and for all. From what Pappy told me, it turns out that - with the second and third pumps - the space between two check valves in both of the pumps was too short. This caused those valves to either come into contact with or bump up against each other, temporarily locking them in place and causing the water flow to shut off until they could be separated (by turning off any running water or messing with the switch/button/breaker). How did they fix this? All they did was put a piece of pipe in between those check valves, which ensured that there would be more than enough room for them to operate without bumping into each other.

We won't have to worry about the water pressure going out all of a sudden anymore, and that's a great thing to know =D

The release of the revised county website is going to be delayed a bit - I can't do much more work on my own, as I've reached the point where my supervisor will have to look at the site and see what might need fixed up before it's released. Unfortunately, he's very busy with getting the county government's network backbone upgraded, as well as work elsewhere in the buildings, and that makes it difficult to get things finalized here =/

Also, here's anything interesting I've been doing lately:

• March 30 (possibly late March 29, after I went to bed) to April 2: My modem stopped working (like the last one, it was running 24/7) =( I originally noticed it Friday afternoon and thought there might have been a temporary outage or maintenance being done, so I waited until Saturday...and saw that it was still out. I called up support at Comcast, and found out I would have to wait until Monday before they could fix it.

  On Monday, I got a replacement modem - this time around, instead of buying one, we rented one at $3/month. Last time we rented a modem (which was when we first got a cable modem), it was $6/month. The reason we went back to renting one (aside from it costing only half as much as it did before) is that, if something goes wrong, they have to come out and fix it.

  They also replaced the cable line leading into our house - it's been there since before I was born, and it was actually the wrong grade of cable, weaker than what should have been used for underground burial. Part of its casing was worn away, and they said they were surprised it held up so well for so long. They replaced it with a new cable (the proper, stronger grade this time around), which was buried sometime in April. This fix dropped 10-15 db. on the line - I originally thought they meant "decibels", but later found out it actually meant "deadband" =P

  They also said our cable lines in the house were split up too much, which is why the signal on a few TVs was weak. Some cables were switched around, and one was removed - that cable was for the TV in the living room, since it had to be switched to a different outlet sometimes when the furniture was rearranged (all that's needed to work around this is to go into the basement and switch the outlet the cable is plugged into). Except for one TV (whose quality remained unchanged, though that might be an issue with how it plugs into the wall), the signals on them are cleaned up now =)

• April 30: As mentioned in my previous post, I went to Red Lobster for my birthday dinner. I got coconut shrimp (which was pretty good), as well as a cake when we were all done eating =)

• May 15: The county's 2007 Primary Election was held on this day. I worked my usual shift, and (like I did in the previous elections) a second one at night. The laptop hooked up to the projector in the main hallway was going real slow, and I used the Task Manager to keep closing out processes until it ran properly. When on the desktop used for uploading results online, the FTP account I used wouldn't work - even though I could see the files - and I couldn't figure out why. I went over to the I.T. Department and found out that the door was locked. I got someone to unlock it, logged on to my desktop, and finally realized what happened: I was supposed to be using a different account. I found out the day after that, for some reason, the old account used for uploading data no longer has write permissions (even though it still has read permissions), which is why that other account was made.

  After I figured out what was going on, I went back over to the other building, logged into the FTP program (this time with the new account), and could finally upload the results! I then went back and forth between the desktop and laptop to upload results, like I did last year...but some people in the hallway complained about having to wait for all the results to go through to see the ones they wanted, which ended up taking over 20 minutes given the number of races being shown. I mentioned that (from what I could tell) the program goes through the results alphabetically, and since the political party is listed first (but not for all races), that's why the results were showing up in that order. They told me to wait a few minutes so they could see the results, but then asked if I could speed it up - fortunately, I could, and just kept hitting the "Next" button until the results they wanted to see were there. I kept doing that until all the precincts were in and went back upstairs to do the last upload. After that, I was finished for the day (er, night =P), called home, and left.

Given how things went with showing the results, I came up with some improvements for how results could be uploaded. Currently, the results file is burned onto a CD, given to me, I head downstairs to upload the laptop's results (for those watching the projector in the hallway), then head back upstairs to upload the desktop's results (for those watching the website), and finally take the CD back to wait for the next set of results to be burned to the CD. The improvements I suggested would be to have another laptop available, this one with a wireless connection - after being handed the CD, I could upload the results to the site (by FTP), as well as wirelessly to the laptop downstairs and remotely refresh its results (by VNC), all from the same computer - no running around required =)

I also typed up some things which could be done to improve the application (the JResult Client, made by Diebold). These were basically suggestions (I also had reasons for doing so, but forgot what they were right now ^_^; ) , as I don't know about the inner workings of the program:

• For HTML results:
  • Add links to allow the user to go to whatever race they want to see.
  • Convert all HTML code for formatting into (valid) CSS code, presented as an external stylesheet.
  • Ensure HTML output for results is actually valid HTML, preferably HTML 4.01 Strict.
  • Ensure that, with only minor changes to the code (most likely to the doctype and line breaks), the page would be valid XHTML as well.
  • Allow a choice between presenting only the code necessary for the results (to allow pasting into a template page or CMS) or creating an entire page (to be uploaded as-is). The user would also be allowed to select which doctype it should validate against, so that the page is formatted properly.
  • Allow web feeds for the results, so users with feed readers could keep up with them without having to visit (or refresh) the results page.
  • Create a background application (on the server hosting the results) that could automatically update the HTML results page when the results file is updated.
• Create a JavaScript file that would augment the usability of the HTML results page. It could provide capabilities such as showing a few races at a time and automatically scrolling through them (like how the Java applet works), automatically refreshing the results after a set period of time (since they'd be live results), drawing graphs for the results, sorting the results by district/race/party, allowing the user to automatically go to a particular district/race/party, or filtering out only the districts/races/parties they want to see. If the user doesn't have JavaScript enabled (or if their browser doesn't support it), the HTML results page will still be usable, just without the functions described in this item.
• Create a Flash version of the Java applet for those who don't/can't have Java installed or have issues with how it runs on their system. It could also make use of the suggestions for the JavaScript version above, for improved usability.
• Upgrade the Java applet to make use of the suggestions for the JavaScript version above, also for improved usability.
• Ensure the results file could be used by the JavaScript and Flash versions mentioned above, in addition to the Java applet, so that their results would always be in synchronization. Modifications to its structure may not be necessary in order for them to use the same file, but this might prevent the use of the features described above if it is not modified.
• If the results file structure is modified, include a converter that could be used to upgrade the result file's code for use with the JavaScript and Flash versions (and the upgraded Java applet as well), as well as downgrade them - if necessary - for use with an older version of the JResult Client.

I typed up these suggestions and gave them to my previous supervisor (who I still work with for the elections, but only during the elections now), and asked her if she could somehow forward them to the company that made the application, if possible. It's worth a shot - I have a feeling I'm not the only one who wants to see improvements to that application ;)

And it only took me approximately 8,766 days worth of experience in this world ;P

(This was typed up after my birthday, but I modified the timestamp to fall on the minute of my birth...and I was at work when that occurred.)

The day itself was pretty uneventful, but still nice - I prefer not having to do a lot of stuff (or go to a lot of places) on my birthday. I wanted to go to Red Lobster today, but since Dad would be working when I could go (and would be like this for the weekend as well), Mom and I went to Pizza Hut for the lunch buffet. We will be going to Red Lobster on Monday, when all three of us can go =D

As for my presents, here's what I got:

• From my parents (though I picked out the first two myself prior to this):
  • Samsung SyncMaster 206BW - As mentioned on my "Buying Some Computer Equipment..." page, I've wanted to replace my monitor for quite awhile. After asking on various forums as to what brand/model I should look for, I settled on this one. Like my laptop's screen, it's a widescreen model, and though it looks smaller, it's a lot bigger in terms of how much space I get - my previous monitor was set to 1,024×768 pixels (the resolution that looked best on it; it could go a bit higher, but some things were distorted due to problems with the monitor), and this one's set to 1,680×1,050 pixels (this monitor's best-looking resolution, and also its highest)! It's surprisingly bright, too - with my previous monitor, even with the brightness and contrast maxed out, I still had to alter the brightness/contrast/gamma values for certain programs just to be able to see certain details; with this monitor...heh, I have absolutely no problem with making out details - in fact, I'd say it's a little too bright at times, even with its lowest default setting. Still, I'd rather have it be too bright than too dark, given the details I pay attention to ^_~
  • Logitech RumblePad 2 - Before I had this, I had to use the keyboard for all of my emulated games...and while it has its advantages, it has one key disadvantage: I can only press three keys (including those for the control pad) simultaneously, which made some games difficult (or even impossible) to play - I also stayed away from anything requiring an analog joystick for obvious reasons. It will take some time to get used to, but it's nice to have a controller in my hands again while I'm playing these games...and I can try out the ones I couldn't play before, too!
  • Shirts (×4) and Pants (×2) - I needed more good clothes =P
• From Granny (my grandmother on my mother's side of the family):
  • Egg Noodles (homemade)
  • Chicken Broth (×2 cartons; for noodles)
  • Cashews
  • Pistachios
  • Mountain Dew (×2 12-oz. cans)
• From my relatives (as well as my parents and Granny), I got cards and money; from my co-workers, I got cards and a gift certificate.

I'll probably be getting some more cards and presents in the next few days as well...but I got some real nice stuff today.

Happy 24^th Birthday to Me!

Sorry for not posting in awhile - I've been pretty busy lately ^^;

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First off:

Happy New Year!

So far, my job's going all right - the template's pretty much done now and things have slowed down a bit as a result, but it will pick up once I get the data I need to upload to the revised version of the site, as there's a lot of it. I'm not sure exactly how long this job will last, but it'll end sometime within the next six months, as it has to be ready by then.

Also, I got quite a few presents for Christmas (before, during, and after), from both relatives and co-workers, including (in no particular order):

• Candy
• Clothes
• Gift cards: Each is for a different place, but their combined total is around $100.
• Razors
• Lottery tickets: I got seven of them, costing $13 in total, but I made $20 off of them...and the best part is that I didn't have to pay for those tickets at all, as they were gifts =D
• Cash
• Motion-detecting light: It's similar to a night light, with a picture of Einstein (=P) on it - due to issues with it staying on all the time and not shutting off, though, it might have to be taken back.
• Laptop case: It's a Samsonite Dimension Notebook Case (Model #250111190); unlike the one that came with my laptop, this one can comfortably hold everything I have for it, without having to struggle with the zipper to keep it closed =) It's a little heavier (and thicker) than the other case, but I can still carry it around without a problem. It's also got quite a bit of padding, which will help if I accidentally set down the case a little harder than I should have.
• "The Darwin Awards: Evolution in Action": I've only read a few pages so far, but some of the stories mentioned in it are pretty good =)
• Gloves: I haven't had a good pair of gloves in years, and these ones fit pretty well - finally, I have something to keep my hands from getting cold (other than my pockets =P) when going outside.
• Paper Shredder: It's a Fellowes cross-cut shredder (Model DS-12Cs), and can shred more than my current one - it can do up to 12 sheets at a time (my old one can only handle five), shreds staples, and even credit cards. It also has a safety feature where if part of your body comes in contact with the metal area of the shredder (which surrounds the actual opening for it), the safety light will come on and it will not shred until your body is no longer in contact with that metal area. Finally, the bin pulls out (unlike my old one, where the shredder is a separate attachment to the top of the bin), which makes it much easier to empty it out when it gets full.
• Laptop cable organizer: I don't have that many cables plugged into my laptop at this point in time, but when there's more plugged into it all at once, this will come in handy.
• Headphones: These ones are the same brand as the previous set I have (Altec Lansing), but are a slightly different type. They came with a USB connector (with audio-in and microphone jacks on the opposite side), and the foam part of the headphones are encased, except for a small part in the middle which is left open. It fits much better than my previous pair, seems to provide better sound (as they cover the ears better), and I don't have to fiddle with the volume control just to get sound in both sides with this pair =)

And the big one: Two GB of RAM from Crucial for my laptop =) Once I got it installed, the system started up...really slow, which I found rather odd. I searched around for what the problem could be, but figured it out when booting into Ubuntu (still haven't fixed it yet as I've been busy) and then Windows (in Safe Mode), and noticing both loaded up quickly: the paging file's size was set way too low for the amount of RAM I now had, as the settings for it were for when I had 512 MB of RAM. Once I changed those values to take into account the amount of RAM I now had, it worked just fine =D

Also, we had more of a "green" Christmas this year - it didn't snow at all that day (but did a few days before), and it rained on Christmas day as well =P

My Dad also got a "present": One person on his work crew is being transferred to a different crew, and Dad's real happy about this because it was a person he just couldn't stand.

Finally, here's another nifty thing I've come up with while working on revising the county website: A style for use with the Stylish Firefox extension, which I'm going to call "Show URL Types" (with a demo page to test it out on). You can use this to tell if a link is relative (to the current directory, the directory above, or the root directory) or absolute, if the link has a bookmark and/or query string at the end, and even shows if the link is using a non-http protocol (such as "ftp", "javascript", "chrome", etc.). If you understand how to work with stylesheets, you can even extend this to cover other protocols as well. It can be very useful for determining whether the links on a page are relative or absolute, without having to view the source of the page first =D

I've been working on redesigning the county website (which will be switching to a CMS, rather than be updated by hand) since the 13th of this month. Unlike my previous jobs, this one's pretty much been the same work every day so far, so I'm not going to describe it here. Once I got the computer set up and added a few programs (including a local copy of the CMS they'll be using), I've just been working on modifying the template's code (adding/removing various plugins in the process) since then, until it's ready for use on the actual site =)

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I've been pretty busy this past month, working in Voter's Registration again. Since that's over now, I'm out of a job...

...But only for a few days - I'll be going back to work on Monday to help with some major updates to the County website =D

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Thanks to a call I received earlier in the week, I'll be working in the Courthouse again, in Voter's Registration, starting Monday =)

Also, the character page for Wolfey is practically done - all that's left is having it looked over a bit to find and fix any issues I didn't notice beforehand (see the page titled "Review of Wolfey's Character Page" for details). Once that's done, I'll consider this an official character page =)

Also, I've recently been messing around with a 3D modeling program called Blender and, like I mentioned in a similar post regarding Inkscape (see the bottom section), there's some interesting stuff you can make with it: One thing in particular that I've made with it is a 3D model of Ragnarok's Esper form - rendered images (in PNG format) can be found here, and the actual 3D model can be found here (you'll need Blender to see it, though). The proportions aren't exact, and I haven't figured out a way to make the spiral "engraving" on the top of the hilt, but I'd say it's pretty good anyway - I've only been using the program for a few days, after all =)

Thanks to three programs (Inkscape, OpenOffice Draw, and SVG Factory), I can convert images between the SVG and WMF formats, which means I finally have something that I can make WMF images with for use in Microsoft Office applications (or anything else that can use WMF images but not SVG images), and I can edit the images as well (as SVGs, followed by converting them to WMFs)! =D

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One of my cousins on my mother's side of the family (he's the youngest of five grandchildren; I'm the eldest of the five) nearly died last week, only a few days after his 12^th birthday, when he was just fine. He was taken to Children's Hospital on September 14 (I was at work at the time) when he became gravely ill due to diabetic ketoacidosis. Aside from an increased appetite earlier in the year (which was overlooked, as his parents thought this was due to adolescence), he showed no signs of diabetes prior to this, and now he will have to live with this for the rest of his life =(

...

Issues at the church have become worse, and quite a few people (including some that went to the two churches - back when they were still separate, and long before the new church was built - for their entire lives) have left, though they said they may come back if these issues are resolved. Plus, I have to put up with my parents arguing with others constantly over these issues. Hopefully they'll be able to resolve them before it gets worse...

...

Trying to be a little upbeat now: some more work on the character page for Wolfey has been done (minor template revisions, a revised watch design, and some description changes). At this point in time, it's pretty much finished, and I'm going to work on getting his backstory ready =)

Also, once again, I'm unemployed (at least until the elections), and read on to see what I did for the last few weeks of work:

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Heh...First we went north, and this time we went south =P

We stayed at a beachfront home with another family for the week of September 2-9, in Kill Devil Hills, North Carolina. Here's what we did (assume it was just me and my parents going to these places, apart from the other family, unless otherwise noted):

• Everyone went to beach a few times (only two of the days were any good, due to the weather), and I got sunburned.
• A game of miniature golf was played...which took awhile with the group I was in (my Dad and I were in the same group, the rest were in another) because we unintentionally selected the longest (and most difficult) of three courses - it was funny when some of us just couldn't get the ball in the hole, though.
• We went to an aquarium and saw quite a few interesting fish, otters, horseshoe crabs (one was on its back for a moment, and I got a picture of it just before it righted itself), and even touched the top of a stingray (it feels like velvet), though I accidentally poked it fairly hard the first time due to some bad depth perception (the open tank was fairly shallow and low to the ground, but I could only reach into it while standing). We also saw a few more sea creatures...and one thing I took notice of at one point was a monitor displaying a "no style information is associated with this XML file..." error message...and I'm guessing it was running a Mozilla-based application ;)
• Four lighthouses were visited: Currituck (the only one that we went up), Bodie, Hatteras (was under maintenance at the time, so we unfortunately couldn't go up it), and Okracoke (which we had to travel by ferry to see).
• We went to the sand dunes, and I saw a big pond with a lot of tadpoles in it - it's interesting (and a bit funny) seeing them come to the surface and watching their mouths open =) We also flew a kite (it's one I had as a child during our earliest vacations here), and I ended up breaking the dowel rod after pulling on the reel too hard (the rods were as old as the kite, and my parents said it was a surprise that they held together for as long as they did) - the wooden rods may be replaced with fiberglass ones next time around to avoid this problem. After that, and just out of curiosity, I bet Dad that I could go up an adjacent hill on the dunes (just the first part, the second would be too much) backwards. He bet I couldn't, but I did...and my legs were tired as a result. They ran down the hill, but I didn't, as my legs were still sore. Instead, I rolled down - since I was at an angle, I eventually went into something like a corkscrew motion at the end - my parents got a kick out of seeing it! I then walked up that hill a second time (forward, as I couldn't take going up backwards again), and rolled down one more time, this time going backwards (heels over head) near the end.
• Dad and I went crabbing. We caught a few of them (everything captured was released shortly after), and right before we left, we had caught one when another family (not the one we were with) came by. I suggested holding the chicken neck (Dad brought quite a few, to be used as bait) in front of it so it would let go of the net (Dad got pinched hard enough to draw blood from one of the earlier catches, when he tried prying its claw off the net himself), and it worked - it let go of the net and started eating the neck! The other family thought the structure of its mouth - and how it was eating - to be interesting, and took a few pictures of it. It eventually freed itself enough to fall to the ground, then walked (sideways, of course =P) towards the water, and then just fell in!
• The last thing we did on our trip: Riding Segways! These actually worked pretty well, considering everyone who tried them out never rode them before. It takes a moment to get your balance, but is a rather interesting ride once you get used to it. Not only were we taught how to ride Segways, but we were taught a little about the history of the local area (Corolla) while riding them. At the end, all of us got certificates that show we have learned how to properly operate a Segway - these are necessary to be able to ride them without having to go through training on how to use them again, and should we decide to buy any, we can get them with discounts =D

Given that we haven't been down to North Carolina for a few years, I'd say it was a very nice trip!

For as short as it was, the trip to Niagara Falls (on the Canadian side) from August 10-11 was pretty nice =) We needed our IDs and birth certificates to get in, and mention anything that we were taking with us (that we didn't have before) when we left.

After checking in to our hotel, dropping off what we didn't need for the moment, and taking what we did, we went to the Falls, and were taking pictures throughout the trip. We got on the "Maid of the Mist", swaying around a bit as we're not used to being on boats - there were times that the disposable raincoats they give you come in very handy. After getting off the boat, one of the first things I did was see a snail on a wall, and took a picture of it =P Later, we went on a tour behind the Falls, which was also interesting; late at night, the Falls were illuminated, and it looked real neat - if you ever see it, take a few pictures.

On Sunday, I went into a casino and played a few games there - it's the first time I could actually gamble in a casino! I would've tried playing the card games, roulette, craps, or any of the other non-slot-machine games there, but the lowest bet that can be made on any of them is $5...and the slot machines to the entrance took nickels and quarters, so you can guess what I spent the money on - unfortunately, I rarely won, and quickly used up most the money I had alloted for this. I still had some when my parents got back, though, so it it lasted longer we expected - though if I was at an arcade instead of a casino, I could've made that money last a lot longer ;)

After that, we went to a wax museum (Louis Tussaud's Waxworks) and got a few interesting pictures of the figures there, including certain ones for certain relatives. Afterwards, we took a ride on a cable car, and before we left, we all went on a helicopter ride - it's amazing how small everything looks from one when you're that high up in the air =D

After that, we came home, got ready for bed, and I got ready for the last two days of my job in the Commissioners' office before heading down to the Treasurer's office starting mid-week.

Also, in other news, I've been doing more work on my character Wolfey, namely fleshing out his background (which in turn will do the same for one other character who doesn't have much of a background himself...), as that's one of the last few things to get ready before I make his character-hood official. His "History" section will be greatly reduced, as a multiple-chapter story that I've been working on will take its place. The story's already complete in its raw state, but will need to be revised to follow the setup I use for my other stories before I'll upload it. Unlike the previous ones I've written, some of the restrictions I usually follow when writing them have been loosened, so it's a bit more...mature than what I usually write. If you've seen what I write, though, you have nothing to worry about - I just wanted to let you know of this ahead of time ;P

As always, click on the link below to see what else I did recently:

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I've been really busy lately...I spent practically every moment after work during the last full week of July to help my Mom get her 30^th Class Reunion book ready in time for her reunion. This week was spent helping make signs (at the last minute, no less) for the Folk Festival around here.

Speaking of things having a number (or numbers) followed by two letters in superscript...My parents are going to Niagara Falls this upcoming weekend for their 25^th wedding anniversary! Their actual anniversary is this Tuesday. Not only that, but they're letting me come, too! =D

Also, last Wednesday, I got some RAM (a 512 MB module, to be exact) I had ordered earlier in the week after coming home from work. Combined with the 512 MB module it already had, I've noticed quite an improvement in performance from certain programs (namely those that ran slowly or wouldn't run at all beforehand), as well as the fact that the system didn't slow down a bit at times like it did before (which, if I understand correctly, is due to using the full capacity of the physical RAM and needing to switch to the page file on the hard drive when more memory is needed). I had originally placed the order on Crucial's site before and wondered why it never came - turns out it was voided due to something with the credit card (this has happened with other products from other companies as well), and I ended up having to order it from a reseller they mentioned instead - but either way, I got what I wanted, and it works just fine =)

For more information on what I did the past two weeks, read on:

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