Justin's Random Thoughts

Winning the small battles

2013-04-05T22:42:00.001-07:00

Won my first battle in my new position at work today.

One of the things we do is offer loaner headsets for agents that forget theirs for some reason. Each headset had a name. Pink zip tie and orange zip tie are simple enough, but it got confusing when you got to “paper orange zip tie.” It’s something that’s driven me nuts since I started working back at the WFO desk.

“Why can’t we just number them?” I asked. I was told “That would be too easy.”

Well, today I got most of our broken loaners replaced with new ones from the group at work that controls them.

Then I got to label them.

I took a post-it note, folded it into quarters, put it around the top of the headset, and stapled it. Then I wrote numbers on the labels.

I even grabbed the one we didn’t replace and put a number on it.

I won!

Back to blogging

2013-03-12T01:04:00.001-07:00

I haven’t done this in a long time.

And I realized tonight that that’s a damn shame.

So much has changed since October.

I got two promotions at work, I moved up from just a regular agent to an ICU agent, meaning I dealt with harder stuff. Then about six weeks ago I moved out of the production side of the call center and spend my days buried in reports, Excel sheets, and the like as an analyst.

It’s one of those kinds of jobs that opens your eyes to how things really work.

It’s also found me with a lot more time to fill, since Jen and I are working vastly different schedules now.

Which brings me back to the blogging thing. I’ve suddenly got more time to spend on it since I’m going to wind up being up until 2 or 3 AM on this 2-10 PM schedule.

But did you miss me?

Yea, didn’t think so.

2012 MLB Playoff Predictions

2012-10-03T20:33:00.001-07:00

I’ll admit, I haven’t followed baseball too closely this year, so this could be a trainwreck, but here goes nothing…

WILD CARD GAMES:

St. Louis @ Atlanta – I think Atlanta’s the better team and will win this one.

Baltimore @ Texas – Texas will finish the choke job that lost them the division in a sweep at Oakland and lose to the Orioles.

NLDS:

Atlanta v, Washington – I want to say Washington really, really bad, but I’m afraid that shutting down Strasburg is going to come back to haunt them. I’m going Atlanta

Cincinnati v, San Francisco – I’m saying Reds just because I hate the Giants.

ALDS:

Baltimore v. New York – The two teams went 9-9 against each other this year and I think they’re pretty even. This one’s a coin toss. My coin lands on Baltimore

Oakland v. Detroit – Detroit went 4-3 against them this year, but Oakland’s on fire right now, winning six in a row. I’m going Oakland.

NLCS: Atlanta v. Cincinnati – The Reds take this one easily. They went 5-1 against Atlanta this year.

ALCS: Baltimore v. Oakland – This is like the Oakland-Detroit series, Baltimore went 4-3 against them this year, but Oakland’s crazy hot like the Cardinals were last year and I think they’ll make it to the Series.

WORLD SERIES – Oakland v. Cincinnati – Oakland’s being hot peters out here and the Reds will win it all in what should be a pretty good series.

Video of the Day: Shit Apple Fanatics Say

2012-09-08T08:37:00.001-07:00

H/T: TechBlog

And Part Deux:

So, Justin, what’s been going on in your world?

2012-06-17T14:15:00.001-07:00

Oh, nothing really.

Just that after the wedding my left eye started acting up and got scratched pretty bad. Not sure how it happened. Eye docs said I had some cornea swelling and that it made me more susceptible to the scratch.

I’d had my corneas replaced as a toddler as part of cataract surgery and I’d known for a few years that I’d have to have some more work done with them eventually. Basically eventually came, and the docs here recommended that we do a partial transplant where the layer that’s acting up would be replaced with another donor layer.

Anyway, I had the surgery (just a 20-minute procedure) on Monday and I’m slowly recovering, seeing a little better with the new one each day. I’m still struggling to read things clearly, but I’m seeing improvement each day and I think I’ll be good enough to get back to work in another week or so.

And then maybe I’ll blog a little more.

Or maybe not. Who knows.

They see me trollin’ They hatin’

2012-04-03T18:00:00.001-07:00

Arizona’s apparently managed to take care of all the pressing issues facing the state since a bill that basically bans trolling on teh interwebz is sitting on Jan Brewer’s desk.

Being obnoxious on the Internet may soon cease to be a fundamental right in Arizona, where lawmakers approved a measure that effectively makes trolling illegal.
[…]
Like so much other knee-jerk technology legislation, Arizona’s bill is noble at heart. Its goal is to stop cyber-bullying by outlawing threats and intimidation delivered via Internet.
But as Media Coalition–an organization that includes film and music industry trade groups–points out, the bill is far too broad, both in its language and its scope. By using vague terms like “annoy” and “offend,” the bill risks criminalizing standard Internet practice of acting like a jerk in the comments section of a blog post. Because the bill isn’t limited to one-on-one communication, all open communication on the Internet could be considered a Class 1 misdemeanor if someone deemed the language offensive.

Never mind the mess of a legal battle this will create (like Arizona needs more with SB 1070 and the state’s reluctance to actually implement the medical-marijuana referendum passed the same year), it’s just another instance of government trying to regulate something it doesn’t understand.

I’m sorry, but the internet is not just a series of tubes. And it’s time that they figure that out.

Things I’ve learned from this year’s NCAA tournament

2012-04-01T06:00:00.000-07:00

Random Thoughts style:

Don’t look at your bracket the first weekend. It’s always going to look like garbage and a lost cause. It’s just a fact of life. It’s probably a good thing I was in Vegas getting married that first weekend, I didn’t have time to check it after Thursday
For two of the three years I’ve tried to, I’ve had a better bracket than Obama. Kansas’ win tonight locked that up for me.
I can put together a damn good bracket. Better than some of ESPN’s analysts, at least. And I probably don’t spend more than a half hour filling it out.
Yes, one of the regionals was in Phoenix. No, I didn’t go. I only went in 2008 (language alert) so I could say I’ve been to one. It was a blast, but the whole thing’s too expensive IMO.

I feel like I really should have more to say about March Madness, but I don’t. Maybe because I haven’t watched much. Oh well.

And remember, kiddos, baseball season starts this week! GO ASTROS AND DIAMONDBACKS!

The wake up call

2012-03-18T18:48:00.001-07:00

Jen and I just got back from Vegas and our wedding.

It was a lovely ceremony, a great time and a ton of fun.

Well, until we got this unexpected wake-up call at 4:30:

Waking up to that was probably one of the scariest experiences of my entire life. I don’t remember how I reacted to it, but Jen thought I was having a seizure or something.

That went on for about ten minutes, then they said whatever caused it to go off had been taken care of. Of course, by then, any chance of going back to sleep was shot. Great stuff when you’ve got a six hour drive in front of you.

Turning it up to eleven

2012-02-08T23:06:00.001-07:00

Boo and Cider are trying to be cute. And I must say they're succeeding. Guess I can sit somewhere else.

Small change to the blog…

2012-01-02T18:59:00.001-07:00

…very small change.

Bet you can’t find it.

Avoid the produce section, ladies!

2011-12-09T08:57:00.001-07:00

The latest from the “So Crazy it has to be True” department:

An Egyptian news outlet has a report that is causing an unusual stir. According to the Bikya Masr news service, an Islamic cleric in Europe has ordered Muslim women to prevent “sexual thoughts” by staying away from bananas, cucumbers, carrots, zucchini, and other phallic produce.
The unnamed sheikh reportedly advises that if women wanted to eat these kinds of food they would need to be cut into smaller pieces, in private, by a man — preferably a relative — because the foods “resemble the male penis” and could “make them think of sex.”

Of course, we all know that those objects don’t just make women think of sex. George Carlin alluded to the same thing in his 1990 stand-up special “Doin’ It Again.” Maybe he should have just suggested that everybody stay away from them?

I don’t know, but I’m thankful they’re not banned. Because I’m a guy. And guys are pigs.

It’s Science™.

(Image Source)

Hitler reacts

2011-11-29T11:42:00.001-07:00

The “Hitler reacts to…” meme has to be one of my favorites of all time. And now, he reacts to the pepper spray meme

Bowling on pot

2011-11-27T08:38:00.001-07:00

Yes, this actually happened. I'm in Texas on vacation and my brother takjed Jen and I into bowling no-taps with him. Anyway, one of the goofy things they do with it is the toilet shot, which is just what it sounds like. You buy tickets to enter and if you get a strike you win 50 bucks. Knock down 5 and you get a gift card. Well, I bought a couple tickets and my name was drawn.

I threw a gutter ball.

Trust me, it's way harder than you'd think.

So, um, yea, major life change or something like that.

2011-11-15T21:48:00.001-07:00

Monday I took Beyonce's advice and put a ring on it. No, not on Beyonce, but my now-fiancee.

No date has been set.

Monkey!

2011-11-11T09:57:00.000-07:00

The Phoenix Zoo has a really cool monkey habitat where you actually walk into their enclosure and they’re moving in the trees all around you. Very cool for pictures.

Om nom nom

2011-11-04T06:30:00.000-07:00

The Phoenix Zoo is doing it wrong (not really)

2011-10-29T09:49:00.001-07:00

Look at the Phoenix Zoo, caging the people and letting the animals run free!

No, not really, but the picture sure makes it look that way, doesn’t it?

It’s the end of the world as we… oh, wait!

2011-10-22T08:19:00.000-07:00

Remember those folks that said the rapture was going to be back in May? Well, they also said that the world would end yesterday, so I have a song for them:

Related: The post-rapture theme song

Obama: Free birth control for everybody! (if you can afford health insurance)

2011-08-01T10:13:00.001-07:00

Birth control shouldn’t require a copay:

Health insurance plans must cover birth control as preventive care for women, with no copays, the Obama administration said Monday in a decision with far-reaching implications for health care as well as social mores.
The requirement is part of a broad expansion of coverage for women's preventive care under President Barack Obama's health care law. Also to be covered without copays are breast pumps for nursing mothers, an annual "well-woman" physical, screening for the virus that causes cervical cancer and for diabetes during pregnancy, counseling on domestic violence, and other services.

I’m not even going to get into the “should it or shouldn’t it” debate, because that’s not the point I want to make here.

To me, this just seems a bit backwards since there are meds out there that can actually, you know, save lives, that are still going to require copays whereas “the pill” won’t.

It just doesn’t seem right to me…

Video of the day: Why you don’t riot: Exhibit #1,356,484

2011-06-17T04:54:00.000-07:00

Flashbangs can go places you don’t want them to.

Ouch!

The post-rapture theme song

2011-05-22T08:14:00.000-07:00

I only expect my geekier friends to get it.

The Rapture Day Giveaway

2011-05-21T08:09:00.001-07:00

What do I have planned for Rapture Day?

I’ll be at the Diamondbacks game hopefully claiming one of the little guys over to the right.

It’s not like I’m expecting much of a game. Yea, the Diamondbacks are playing just short of .500 ball. The Twins, on the other hand, are in a tooth-and-nail battle with the Astros for the first pick in the 2012 draft.

Good Riddance

2011-05-01T20:55:00.001-07:00

Bin Laden’s dead.

Did the guy who pulled the trigger yell “BOOM, HEAD SHOT!”

Because it’s Friday…

2011-04-08T06:15:00.000-07:00

Sorry, I just had to…

It's hot.

2011-03-16T16:55:00.001-07:00

Just look...