I've Got Some Shit on My Mind

Yet another blog location

noreply@blogger.com (-al) — Thu, 26 Mar 2009 03:43:00 +0000

http://albush.tumblr.com/post/89883915/where-the-wild-things-are

I've found another place for blogging: Tumblr.
It's great for collecting random blurts. Less than a blog, more than a Twitter or Facebook status update.

noreply@blogger.com (-al) — Sat, 21 Mar 2009 20:04:00 +0000

Posting on Wordpress, might continue posting more tawdry stories here.
http://albush.wordpress.com/

noreply@blogger.com (-al) — Wed, 21 Jan 2009 02:19:00 +0000

Uploaded with plasq's Skitch!

Bottoms up, Socrates

noreply@blogger.com (-al) — Sun, 04 Jan 2009 05:34:00 +0000

Today I learned a little something about myself.
I'm a deductive reasoner.
Today I learned a little something about my fiance.
She's an inductive reasoner.

I say that I learned this. That's not entirely the case. I guess I should say I finally put a label on something which I had known to be true.
This simple difference in communication style leads to quite a few "Get to the point, already"s. The problem is, I don't always know what the point is.

That's a big difference, between she and I. When she says something, she's already done the necessary thinking. Because of this, she can pose a well reasoned, intelligent sentence. Me, on the other hand, I talk while thinking. It's part of the process. I like to think it works for me. I'm very Socratic, in that respect.

Of course, no one would know the name "Socrates" if his incessant questions had annoyed Plato. Socrates might have had a tall, cool glass of hemlock much earlier in his career.

noreply@blogger.com (-al) — Sat, 14 Jun 2008 01:55:00 +0000

My dog wants me to ask all of my readers to read his new blog. Gus thinks he's going to become some type of internet celebrity. Good luck with that. He eats cat turds. Like people would ever take him seriously.

In other news, things continue to go well for the Old Lady and I at the new house.
Work is under control, and I'll be taking a mini vacation to watch my beloved Kansas City Royals take on some other ball club which is also from Missouri.
This micro vacation will involve:

Road trip with Sherman

Male bonding with the Father of the Old Lady

Beer

The benefit of heading generally westward and away from the sun as we escape St. Louis with raging hangovers

Ah, yes, good times.

noreply@blogger.com (-al) — Thu, 08 May 2008 16:53:00 +0000

So much stuff going on lately.

I last posted almost five months ago. Since then, work has become even more hectic than I could have ever imagined.

My former supervisor threw a tantrum at work and was demoted. We ended up switching jobs. I was thrust into her role, more of a supervisory role, with much, much more paperwork, and a healthy dose of other extra responsibilities.

The company I work for is very technology forward. We embrace technology and the changes it can bring. The former co-worker did not. She doesn’t work here anymore because of this fear of change.

So now I have my old job back.

And my new one, too.

Before she left, I estimated that three people could be kept fairly busy 40 hours weekly with the work the two people in our department were tasked with. Now it’s only me. And we continue to grow.

So I’ve been busy like I never thought possible for the last few months. But in those few months, we were able to create a few tools which greatly simplify my job, making me a much more efficient worker. We’re also adding another person to my department, so I’ll be able to delegate some of my work down, again, and maybe get to spend my weekends…

Tinkering with my new house.

The Old Lady and I saw the silver lining in this slumping housing market and realized we could make a pretty sound investment. We bought a brand new house in a rapidly growing suburb of Springfield. We like it.

I now have a backyard (dirt, really, at this point) for the dogs to run amok. I now have an office to which I can retire and do nerdly things on computers and other gadgets. I now have a list of things to hang and paint and build. I really miss building things.

And all of this happened not a moment too soon, because….

The apartment the Old Lady and I had been inhabiting had become (unbeknownst to us) uninhabitable.

After maintenance came to fix the fifth water leak in the ten months we had been renting the apartment, they found a rather large mold infestation. (Pics for the brave among you) Over half of the walls on the first floor had mold growing on them.

The environmental inspector we hired to check on the air quality called our apartment a “petri dish.”

And the management has yet to apologize for any of it. They did, however, agree to let us out of our lease. This is, literally (and here I believe I use the word correctly), the least they can do.

And that’s pretty much why I haven’t posted in about half a year.

More funny doctor names

noreply@blogger.com (-al) — Sat, 15 Dec 2007 03:46:00 +0000

If you're ever in Northwest Arkansas and need your bones operated on, look up Dr. Peter Tang, MD.
He'll take good care of you.

I need sleep.

I live at the zoo

noreply@blogger.com (-al) — Fri, 14 Dec 2007 14:29:00 +0000

This is my Puppy, Gus Gus.
I got him from my cousin. He's half Black Lab, half Weimeriner. He's 6 months old, and already a monster. He weighs well over fifty pounds, eats a ton of food (and anything else he can get his paws on) and is taller than my old lady when he stands on his hind legs.
But he's also extremely well behaved. He follows my commands as well as I can expect him to. He will sit and stay, or lay down and stay for several minutes. He'll leave toys and treats alone when I tell him to wait. He's a really good dog.

And this is the Old Lady's dog, Ferris Bueller.

Ferris is a good dog too. He's just little. And a little well loved, at times.
I chose Gus for some of his best qualities: he's laid back, obeys well, big. The old lady chose Ferris for his best qualities: He's loyal, high spirited and little. Together they make up the canine Odd Couple.

Since Ferris has been around well before Gus came into the picture, he was, naturally, the one in charge.
Ferris quickly established his dominance over Gus while the puppy only out-weighed him by a few pounds. Now that The Gus is more than five times the size of Ferris, it's funny (and a bit safer) that Ferris is still in charge.
Here they are, wrestling. Ferris' determination, alongside Gus' inherent laid back state of mind makes for some funny living room antics.

And then there's Sadie.

She's just a big, fat cat. This is one of her rare living room appearances. You can usually find her sleeping upstairs in the guest bedroom, or on the most cat hair-attractive article of clothing I own.

Well, that's a run-down on the zoo that is my house. I can assure you all that there is never a dull moment in that house.

noreply@blogger.com (-al) — Wed, 12 Dec 2007 03:29:00 +0000

I'm worried about America.
I just finished watching tonight's episode of The Biggest Loser. A more accurate show title would be "The Most Mediocre Loser."
Please don't misunderstand me, I applaud these people for the work they've put into transforming their bodies. The thing that makes me worry for the state of our fair country is the fact that the people who actually have a chance to lose the most weight keep getting voted off.
After tonights episode, when the person who had lost the most weight ever in Biggest Loser history was voted off, (for losing the most weight that week) it occurred to me that The Biggest Loser (and all other "Vote-Off" reality shows) promotes mediocrity.
The "Vote-Off" reality show is the version of reality show which filters down the pool of contestants by having the contestants themselves vote off their contestant peers. This differs from "Vote-On" or "Vote-For" reality shows where the contestants or more often the audience votes for the contestant they would like to see win.
The "Vote-On" shows have such a better talent pool, in the end. The viewers are left with, arguably, the best contestants at the end of the competition. The "Vote-Off" contest is populated with the people who voted off the best and brightest the previous few weeks.
Obviously, in the first few weeks of competition, the worst contestants are culled out. It is in the middle weeks, however, that the mediocre take over. T
ake Biggest Loser for example. Neil, who was the last person voted off, lost a staggering amount of weight, (152 lbs, over 35% of his original weight) but his weekly weight loss of 10 lbs (again, the most of all contestants that week) wasn't a big enough percentage of his previous weight to advance. Three of the other contestants had lost a much smaller percentage of weight to date. These contestants a) had more fat to lose, and b) since they started lighter, needed a smaller actual weight loss to keep themselves in the game.
It is the ability for contestants to exploit one single falter in the performance of a superior opponent that rewards mediocrity in "Vote-Off" reality shows.
And now Neil, who is literally the biggest loser ever on Biggest Loser, will never have a chance to hold that title. Because mediocrity always wins out on the "Vote-Off" game.
If they want to do this right, they should have the trainers vote off the contestant with the worst results. They're the ones who actually see the effort put in at training sessions and can see past a small hiccup in weekly weight loss.
That might fix things. Then the winner of the ever-so-awkwardly Nabisco-branded Biggest Loser Award might actually be the biggest loser.

And now for something a little lighter

noreply@blogger.com (-al) — Sun, 02 Dec 2007 04:42:00 +0000

Now that I've got the long post about work out of the way, let me share something I found in my Google Reader this morning.

This first guy should have read the second guy's article.

I'm also writing from my ipod. I have the 30 gig fifth gen video, and a paltry 8 gigs worth of media to put on it. Then I realized (with the help of a few LifeHacker articles) that the ipod is just a portable hard drive with a couple of buttons that let you play media contained inside the drive. (Provided it was imported with the proprietary software and in the correct format...) And here I was just sitting on 20+ gigs of portable storage space.

So I downloaded the PortableApps Suite, and a few other programs, and now I'm the proud owner of a 30 gig, usb-powered hard drive, with media playback capabilities, and portable versions of all of my favorite Mozilla apps, the open office suite, pidgin for multi-client chat, a few programs for privacy and fun little Mario Bros.-like game featuring Tux.
I'm using a few gigs to store some ISOs of Linux distros I'm wanting to try out, a copy of VMWare so I can play with them and an encrypted backup of several files I want to keep with me.

So far so good. Now I can turn my $15 2 gig black friday thumb drive into a linux on-a-stick/ recovery tool.

Working like crazy.

noreply@blogger.com (-al) — Sun, 02 Dec 2007 04:17:00 +0000

I've had some changes in my job situation, all for the better. I'll excerpt from an email i sent to Jim on this subject:

I've had a pretty good job for the last 9 months. I really enjoy it, it treats me pretty well.
But i'm not quite making the money i would like to make (paying down debt, buying the old lady a ring and making an honest woman out of her, etc...) so i've been shopping for a part time job for quite awhile.
I was totally transparent with my first job about looking for more work, and they were ok with the situation.
so i get hired at target, tell them about it, they're ok with it.
later that week (while waiting for target to get the results of my drug/background tests) my primary job gets two more big clients. this means a whole bunch of work is going to need to get done.
So i took a day off from the primary job to go into target to do the orientation, and got my over-worked schedule.
it was going to be pretty rough. I would work from 8-4:30 at job #1, then from 5-midnight at target.
But the next day at job #1, i was summoned to the VP's office, where i was essentially "bought back" from target.
I got a raise and plenty more responsibility. but i only have to work one job now.
I'm still working late into the night, but it's at home, where i can at least hang out with the old lady and our dogs. so things kinda worked out in my favor a little more than i thought they would.
I did have to go in and resign the day i was supposed to start training. that was awkward. but i quit before they had invested anything more in me than the hiring process and the single orientation session. i feel kinda bad about it, really, but it was never my intention to skate out of a job like that.

I was actually looking forward to working at Target. I don't get to interact with many people at Job #1. And the rare occasions I'm able to talk to someone outside my office, it's to have them answer a question for me. So I was looking forward to getting to talk to people and help them find some good electronics.

I've put in 60 hours this week, and have more tomorrow. Most people ask why i put up with it.
Why do I put put up with these huge hours? I believe in the company. I believe in the people, I believe in the concept behind the company. I also believe I have a future there. And that's something I've not really had yet. It all means I'm an adult now.
Eh. It's not so bad.

I'm just glad I don't have to wear a tie to work...

noreply@blogger.com (-al) — Sat, 17 Nov 2007 03:57:00 +0000

Donald just commented on my last post about the ever-escalating prank war going on in our office. They all revolve around birthdays, and I happen to have the last birthday to occur out of all the people in the office. So I'm pretty much screwed. But Donald got me thinking about prank wars and that got me thinking about one of the best Barats and Bereta shorts yet. Here it is, enjoy.

More office birthday pranks.

noreply@blogger.com (-al) — Fri, 16 Nov 2007 18:24:00 +0000

More office birthday pranks.
Originally uploaded by fatalbush2002

The other day we celebrated Tiffiny's birthday at the office. She doesn't like spiders. I'm beginning to worry, since my birthday happens last. I'm afraid I'm going to get it worst.

noreply@blogger.com (-al) — Thu, 15 Nov 2007 21:59:00 +0000

I want to write, really, I do. I just can't ever seem to make it happen.
I'll try and write more, I promise.

Hooray!

noreply@blogger.com (-al) — Thu, 08 Nov 2007 16:26:00 +0000

After over 24 hours of down time, the Internet is back on at work.
I'm not sure how we ever survived, but we seem to have done well.
Gimme my crack!

The Day the Internet Died

noreply@blogger.com (-al) — Thu, 08 Nov 2007 00:14:00 +0000

I had forgotten just how Internet-dependent our business has become. I came in this morning, and the DSL connection wasn’t up. I went to call my boss to let him know so he could call the appropriate people to get it fixed. But I only have his number stored in our online contact management system.

I typed this sentence nearly eight hours ago, when we realized there was a problem with our Internet connection. It’s still down. I’m writing this in Word, and will take it home with me to upload from my home connection.

It’s been different, to say the least. I’m a fan of not having the constant flow of emails to pull my attention. I’m also a fan of not being able to check Lifehacker and Gizmodo, Myspace and all of my friend’s blogs seventeen times daily.

I had to be creative, today, to even find tasks I could take on without the help of the internet. There weren’t many. All of my files are stored online. The two projects I’m currently managing are Internet developments. I can’t do any testing if I can’t get online. I can’t email my developer if I can’t get online. So much is dependent for this company to be online. I’m surprised we were as successful as we were today.

Lessons Learned:

I’ve learned that I can get by without having Outlook check my email every minute. I find I actually got things done. I would start on a task, and compete it, without stopping. When I had Outlook sending me a constant stream of email, I’d find myself stopping every ten minutes or so to take care of something that “couldn’t wait.” We’ll see how I feel about this whenever I check my Inbox in a few minutes from home, but I am a really big fan of the interruption free day I had.

You're Carrying Your Camera Where?

noreply@blogger.com (-al) — Wed, 07 Nov 2007 03:44:00 +0000

Saw this on Gizmodo. Couldn't resit.
I'm going to have to change the name of the blog to "I've Got Some Links to People and Products That Read Like Horrible Names For Female Genitalia."

clipped from gizmodo.com

noreply@blogger.com (-al) — Mon, 05 Nov 2007 21:51:00 +0000

It looks like my mobile blog posts never made it to blogger this weekend. I'm not too happy with my T-Mobile right now.
But, on the other hand, T-Mobile has been named as one of the top US mobile companies linked to the Google-led Open Handset Alliance, I might just have to stay with them for a while longer.
For those of you who don't know, it looks like Google is entering the mobile phone market with a new open source smartphone operating system. Here's a good overview of the OHA from Gizmodo.
I think this OHA could be huge. One of the major handset manufacturers aligned with Google is HTC, maker of many critically acclaimed smartphones, all of which are using Windows Mobile currently. A new, free, operating system would mean the same caliber of phone, but without the added cost of the operating system thrown on to the phone.
Throw in all of Google's apps (gmail, gcal, blogger, search) that everyone's already using, and you have a mobile-stay-in-touch device for the consumer. For the person who doesn't need all of the business apps found on a Blackberry or a Palm Treo. And for those that do, Google's got Docs.
As if that wasn't enough, the whole idea of the OHA is not to invent and market one phone, branded by Google, but rather to perfect an operating system that is flexible enough to drive a text/IM centric phone or a document/presentation heavy business phone. And everything in between. This is going to mean the potential for thousands of different phones. If you don't like the first Google phone to come your way, or if it doesn't fit every need you're going to have, then wait.
I for one am excited. I'll be very interested in seeing what the OHA starts rolling out in the middle of 2008.

Tasty treat.

noreply@blogger.com (-al) — Fri, 02 Nov 2007 22:07:00 +0000

Tasty treat.
Originally uploaded by fatalbush2002

I'm off to teach an Improv class at the Y down town. I haven't been to this Y yet, only driven by it. This Y is right down town, in a mostly revitalized neighborhood. I'm looking forward to exploring this YMCA and the downtown area in general.
But right now I've gotta get down to the business of eating this sammich

Joined NaBloPoMo

noreply@blogger.com (-al) — Fri, 02 Nov 2007 02:37:00 +0000

November is many things, but most of all (at least on this blog) it is National Blog Posting Month. And this year, I'm participating. (Thanks to Robyn for mentioning it.) What better way to exorcise the writing demons, than with NaBloPoMo? I'll be encouraged to post daily, maybe even more.
Plus, I might win a prize.
Who else is participating? How are you doing with your posts? Do you think you can make it?
Sound off in the comments?

Geeky Jack-O-Lanterns

noreply@blogger.com (-al) — Wed, 31 Oct 2007 14:07:00 +0000

Over at Wired.com, they have an amazing gallery of the nerdliest Jack-O-Lanterns one could ever see. Some of the detail work is absolutely amazing. I highly recommend heading over there and taking a look before Halloween's over.

clipped from wired.reddit.com

Thank God!

noreply@blogger.com (-al) — Wed, 31 Oct 2007 02:45:00 +0000

It's about freaking time. Seriously. Good riddance, Mike Sweeney. I hope some other team throws a crap ton of money at you and you give them your best ever performance of seventy five games played in a single season.
Good luck, Captain Popup.

clipped from mlb.mlb.com

KANSAS CITY -- Designated hitter Mike Sweeney and pitcher David Riske, two players the Royals might be interested in retaining, filed for free agency on Tuesday.

Geewww!

noreply@blogger.com (-al) — Tue, 30 Oct 2007 21:08:00 +0000

Geewww!
Originally uploaded by fatalbush2002

While shopping for a halloween costume at the local thrift store, i saw this sign. I still don't know what to say about that...

Cylon?

noreply@blogger.com (-al) — Tue, 30 Oct 2007 20:07:00 +0000

Cylon?
Originally uploaded by fatalbush2002

Anyone care to guess what this toasterish looking object really is?

Best. Birthday. Prank. Ever.

noreply@blogger.com (-al) — Mon, 29 Oct 2007 17:01:00 +0000

So here's the best birthday prank, ever.

We received a tip from the boss man himself, Jason, that Jon's birthday was coming up on the 25th. Jon was rather hush-hush about his birthday, as he should be since he's the office prankster.

So after Jon left on Wednesday, his office was prepared. Here's what was done to it:

On the outside of the door, some random stuff to show we care.

But the real goods were hidden inside. Apparently, the USPS will deliver to your door a whole heck of a lot of flat rate boxes, absolutely for free. And, apparently, we had ordered a bunch of them a couple of months ago. So we put them into Jon's office.

Over 300 boxes were stacked from floor to ceiling, completely cutting him off from his desk.

And then we laughed as Jon cleared the boxes out of his office

Now this was pretty funny, to us, but it got even better when Jon took out his drivers license to show us his birthday was actually three weeks earlier.
And now, the rest of the story:

Jason had tricked us. And Jon. He tricked us into playing a prank on Jon, so he wouldn't have to. It was a very nicely played, well thought out prank. Multiple targets, multiple payoffs.
My hat is off to the boss man.