Why do I have a storage cabinet that has a sticker on the bottom of a drawer that says “STOP! Load bottom drawer first!” – on the BOTTOM drawer?
Rants
19 posts
Almost 4 years ago I became a DirecTV subscriber. It was SOOO much better and cheaper than my local cable company, which became part of Comcast shortly before I canceled. Plus they offered a real dual-tuner integrated TiVo unit long before anyone else considered such a thing. My, how things have changed…
This is a combo Rant and Geek Out article… Continue reading
Finally remembered to post something here. Work and Sci-Fi Storm take a lot of time, and well as the fact that I’m now engrossed in EverCrack…er, I mean, EverQuest Online Adventures (the PS2 version). Now, so what if I wear a “Members Only” jacket? Continue reading
So what is it about the T that seems to attract a certain level of the “mentally questionable”, in particular the class we’ll call the “Self Talkers” – you know, the ones that seem to be having a fairly decent conversation, except there is no one at the other end of the conversation? Yesterday on the commuter train I had a woman behind me that I thought was on the phone – I wasn’t really listening in, but I could occasionally hear names being mentioned, and what sounded like little descriptions about them, like “she wore wire-rimmed glasses”. I first noticed that it wasn’t a typical conversation when she started repeating herself – the same things I had heard earlier. Then, as we were approaching the final stop, her conversation got even weirder – talking about how “you are a scumbag” and such, and then she got to really swearing as if she were complaining about some real major dirtbag rapist or something. As it got worse, it also got louder such that other people on the train started noticing it, except for the woman next to me fortunate enough to be wearing a headset (alas, my iPod was out of power). Everyone just kind of silently but quickly left the train…
Now I’ve seen the Self Talkers on the subway lines, but this is the first on the Commuter Rail…
Dammit, dammit, DAMMIT!!!! Well, I still have a job, but I can’t rest for a second. DirecTV DSL (formerly Telocity) announced it will cease operations soon. They will probably transition me to Verizon, where I will lose my static IP and get horrible customer service. So I’ve been scrambling for an alternative, but with no other DSLAMs in the local CO, there’s not much choice. I may go with Earthlink DSL just to get the static IP (and still have to pay more). Ironically, I just purchased DirecTV satellite equipment last weekend.
A week ago last Friday I found out that my daughter’s daycare was closing on Dec. 21st, going into a weekend where I wasn’t sure about my employer’s financial situation and about to work the weekend upgrading my former employer’s e-mail systems (I told them to upgrade them 4 years ago when I left – they still hadn’t and are paying the price). That turned into a complete disaster (had to back out all changes), resulting in a LOT of lost sleep (4 total hours over 48). This week was spent analyzing what went wrong and figuring out what to do about daycare. We found a nice one, a little more expensive, but they wanted a 4 week deposit up front. So, this past Friday I step into my boss’s office for a quick chat on how are things going. I was NOT expecting to find out that were were laying off 4 more people from my group, and several others around the company. Yeah, that made me feel better…
Anybody know of a job for a senior UNIX guy? Please???
Yesterday, my company decided to let go several people from my group. I was not one of them, but the ones that did get let go were people I had worked with for some time. I was actually sent home early so I didn’t have to be there when the axe fell, but I’m not sure that was better. It was completely unexpected – not even a hint. The shock still hasn’t worn off. To top it off, the train on the way home broke down…
Here is just a list of some pet peeves I have riding the T. There will be more, I’m sure of it…
- If you are as wide as the doors to the train, try to avoid standing in front of them when people need to get out. And DON’T get all huffy and shit when people ask you to move out of the way so they can get off.
- Don’t push your way through like you’re extremely late and might not make it off the train, only so you can stand in the doorway for the NEXT stop.
- Don’t be the first person off the train, walk like you have purpose towards the exit, then come to a complete stop like you are second-guessing yourself, blocking everybody else who knows where they are going.
- On the commuter trains, don’t walk all the way up the aisle, stop, then turn around and try to go back through all the other people behind you. Take a damned seat! And watch those backs/backpacks/whatever! You are likely to hit someone in the head with a quick turnaround!
- Again on the commuter trains, give your kids a watch and tell them when the train will arrive at your destination. It will preempt all the “Are we there yet?” crap that goes on mile after mile.
- It’s amazing how many people gravitate to the back of the southbound Orange Line trains, while the forward cars have plenty of room. Come on – the walk will do you good.
Working in Downtown Boston doesn’t offer a lot of travel options. You can pay what would be a fair fraction of rent on a decent apartment anywhere else for a parking space (and the hassle of actually driving in Boston), or you take the MBTA. Since I live a fair distance west of Boston, the commute for me includes the Commuter Rail. Read on for some details and rantings. Continue reading