Monday, June 8
Impressive!
So, I found this really cool product form iomega, the Multimeda ScreenPlay Pro HD, so I clicked on their "Where to Buy" link and got a list of stores near my zip code. Evidently I should check with CompUSA, very near my location. Only one problem with that, CompUSA has been out of business since last year about this time. Way to keep your site updated iomega!
Labels: compusa, iomega, outdated, wtf
Monday, May 18
Playin' Possum
So, it is 11 PM, I'm about to go to bed. My dog decides it is time to puke at the back door. OK, let the dog out to eat some grass. Take a piss, then head to the garage to find some cleaning supplies to get the puke up off the tile.
As I'm going into the garage, I happen to look down into the trash can. HOLY FUCK! A possum in the bottom of the trash can. Great now I have two problems to deal with at bedtime.
I don't fucking like possums. They are mean, they carry rabies, they hang upside down in trees. Not a damn thing to like.
Back to the bedroom, put on pants, put on shoes, get the wife to do the same. Grab the digital camera from the family room and head back to the garage.
As you can see from the photos, it is only a juvenile. Great, not in the mood to kill a baby anything tonight. So open the garage door, take the trash can out, tump it over. Fucker won't come out, he is "playing possum". Eventually got him to run off into the night. Kept hissing at me, like he was going to get me some day.
So, now there is a juvenile possum, with a vendetta, running around my house in the middle of the night. Great. I'm going to bed. Fuck Mother Nature.
As I'm going into the garage, I happen to look down into the trash can. HOLY FUCK! A possum in the bottom of the trash can. Great now I have two problems to deal with at bedtime.
I don't fucking like possums. They are mean, they carry rabies, they hang upside down in trees. Not a damn thing to like.
Back to the bedroom, put on pants, put on shoes, get the wife to do the same. Grab the digital camera from the family room and head back to the garage.
As you can see from the photos, it is only a juvenile. Great, not in the mood to kill a baby anything tonight. So open the garage door, take the trash can out, tump it over. Fucker won't come out, he is "playing possum". Eventually got him to run off into the night. Kept hissing at me, like he was going to get me some day.
So, now there is a juvenile possum, with a vendetta, running around my house in the middle of the night. Great. I'm going to bed. Fuck Mother Nature.
Labels: critter, dog, garage, HOLY FUCK, house, possum, puke, varmit
Monday, May 11
I'm Featured At The Keepers Website, again!
Last weekend I took one of my sons and my dad to the Keels & Wheels car & boat show in Seabrook TX. It was awesome, so I shared some pictures with "The Keeper" , they are up on his site for one day only. Enjoy.
Sunday, May 3
I drive a Porsche, but I can't read...
Really, parked like this. Just because you have money for a nice car doesn't make you smart.
Labels: dumb, illiterate, porsche
Saturday, May 2
Check out my XBOX 360's Blog!
Hey, check me out at 360 Voice, if you have an XBOX 360, it will write a blog about your gaming exploits each day.
The Dren
The Dren
Monday, April 20
Artania - Worst Show Ever
OK, so let me start by saying, my mom does a lot of nice things for the family. This was an attempt at one of those nice things. However, at no fault of her own, this was an EPIC FAIL.
There have been persistent advertisements in the Houston Chronicle recently for a show called Artania, billed as an Acrobatic Horse Show. Mom saw this, and I had seen the ads, so when she called and offered to take us and the kids, I said sure.
So, yesterday was the big day. Out to Sam Houston Race Park we went. The event was set up in one of those huge canvas tents in the parking lot. There was an extra charge for parking, on top of the $22 per ticket cheap seat price.
Into the tent we went. There is a fairly large hospitality area when you first go in with food and drinks. The first thing you notice is that it smells strongly of Popcorn..... and horseshit. Nice combo.
So, we herd the kids past the snack bar, which has a nice selection of food and beverages, priced at the same low prices you see in movie theaters and sports stadiums. Whoopee!
The arena is rather small for a horse show. These pictures are a little fuzzy, my Blackberry Storm was having issues in the low light situation.
There was an announcement made several times, "Flash photography and video recording of any kind are strictly prohibited as they may spook the horses." OK, I get the flash thing, but video? Really? So, they have a horse or horses in the show that would say, "Oh, shit, that guy has a video camera, now I'm spooked! Run like hell!"
A crowd slowly gathered in the arena, but I'd say it never got past 40% full.
The rest of the pictures are kind of random, just taken throughout the show.
The show started on time, but roughly half the visitors did not, so the first 30 minutes of the show there was a constant procession of rude people coming in to sit for the first time. A show like this should have some no late admission process, or stairs to the back of the seating so that you aren't watching a constant stream of late comers and bathroom goers.
The show was awful, I think it was trying to tell some sort of story. But there was little or no narration. And even when there was talk, it was in some sort of incomprehensible gibberish, kind of like talking to someone who is really drunk and happy.
The show was broken into two segments with a lenghty intermission. The second half was much shorter, and better than the first half. In fact, if the show had been just the second half, it might have seemed like a good show.
There were VIRTUALLY NO HORSES in the first segment. And when there were, they were generally old nags led around the arena on a lead, and off the stage. More like misdirection in a magic act. The one time the horses did move fast, there were two different acrobats running and jumping at the horses, as if to mount them in motion, but both kept failing. I'm not sure if it was deliberate failure, or if they couldn't mount, but either way, I can run at a moving horse, jump and not land on the horse. Not much to that I'm afraid.
With a few exceptions, the show was mostly human acrobatics, set to funky new age music. Horses figured into less than 10% of the show. Yet, when you go to their website, it talks about how great the horses in the show are, and the pictures there have horses in about 80% of them.
The second part of the show was a little better, they even had a segment that featured four lovely women in tight outfits dancing seductively. How bad was the show? I found myself wishing this part would hurry up and end. If you know me at all, you know something has to be truly awful for me to not be interested in suggestively dancing women.
By the mid point of the second part my wife had to take our daughter out, she loves horses, was very excited about the show, but had lost interest. My oldest son had lost interest and spent the rest of the show aggravating his cousin. The only one interested till the end was my youngest son, he loved the whole thing and clapped a lot when the crowd would start clapping.
At the very end they finally brought out some healthy horses that could run and did some acrobatic stunts with them. However, by then I was just ready to make a run for the door.
Did I mention how hot it was inside the tent? There was very little ventilation. It was at least 20 degrees cooler when we walked out into the sunshine.
This was an awful show. Don't waste your hard earned dollars on Artania.
Artania Website
There have been persistent advertisements in the Houston Chronicle recently for a show called Artania, billed as an Acrobatic Horse Show. Mom saw this, and I had seen the ads, so when she called and offered to take us and the kids, I said sure.
So, yesterday was the big day. Out to Sam Houston Race Park we went. The event was set up in one of those huge canvas tents in the parking lot. There was an extra charge for parking, on top of the $22 per ticket cheap seat price.
Into the tent we went. There is a fairly large hospitality area when you first go in with food and drinks. The first thing you notice is that it smells strongly of Popcorn..... and horseshit. Nice combo.
So, we herd the kids past the snack bar, which has a nice selection of food and beverages, priced at the same low prices you see in movie theaters and sports stadiums. Whoopee!
The arena is rather small for a horse show. These pictures are a little fuzzy, my Blackberry Storm was having issues in the low light situation.
There was an announcement made several times, "Flash photography and video recording of any kind are strictly prohibited as they may spook the horses." OK, I get the flash thing, but video? Really? So, they have a horse or horses in the show that would say, "Oh, shit, that guy has a video camera, now I'm spooked! Run like hell!"
A crowd slowly gathered in the arena, but I'd say it never got past 40% full.
The rest of the pictures are kind of random, just taken throughout the show.
The show started on time, but roughly half the visitors did not, so the first 30 minutes of the show there was a constant procession of rude people coming in to sit for the first time. A show like this should have some no late admission process, or stairs to the back of the seating so that you aren't watching a constant stream of late comers and bathroom goers.
The show was awful, I think it was trying to tell some sort of story. But there was little or no narration. And even when there was talk, it was in some sort of incomprehensible gibberish, kind of like talking to someone who is really drunk and happy.
The show was broken into two segments with a lenghty intermission. The second half was much shorter, and better than the first half. In fact, if the show had been just the second half, it might have seemed like a good show.
There were VIRTUALLY NO HORSES in the first segment. And when there were, they were generally old nags led around the arena on a lead, and off the stage. More like misdirection in a magic act. The one time the horses did move fast, there were two different acrobats running and jumping at the horses, as if to mount them in motion, but both kept failing. I'm not sure if it was deliberate failure, or if they couldn't mount, but either way, I can run at a moving horse, jump and not land on the horse. Not much to that I'm afraid.
With a few exceptions, the show was mostly human acrobatics, set to funky new age music. Horses figured into less than 10% of the show. Yet, when you go to their website, it talks about how great the horses in the show are, and the pictures there have horses in about 80% of them.
The second part of the show was a little better, they even had a segment that featured four lovely women in tight outfits dancing seductively. How bad was the show? I found myself wishing this part would hurry up and end. If you know me at all, you know something has to be truly awful for me to not be interested in suggestively dancing women.
By the mid point of the second part my wife had to take our daughter out, she loves horses, was very excited about the show, but had lost interest. My oldest son had lost interest and spent the rest of the show aggravating his cousin. The only one interested till the end was my youngest son, he loved the whole thing and clapped a lot when the crowd would start clapping.
At the very end they finally brought out some healthy horses that could run and did some acrobatic stunts with them. However, by then I was just ready to make a run for the door.
Did I mention how hot it was inside the tent? There was very little ventilation. It was at least 20 degrees cooler when we walked out into the sunshine.
This was an awful show. Don't waste your hard earned dollars on Artania.
Artania Website
Labels: Artania, awful, horse, show
Thursday, April 9
Someone emptied my trash!
My mother wanted me to get a respectable job. Instead I choose to be an IT Jockey. I should have listened to my mom...
This mail graced the box of EVERYONE in IT this morning from one of our uers.
Essentially the user is upset becuase their trash was emptied, apparently without warning. How amazing, trash, thrown away. This happens about once a week here from our users, "My Deleted Items are gone, I needed those, that is why I deleted them."
WTF - ? - Look up Delete on the Internet you dumbass.
Here is a picture of the "Deleted Items Folder". Damn, if that does not look like a trash can. Imagine, taking out the trash... unholy activity!
We had to send the user a message that on our system, she would have had to click an OK box or manually start the emptying of her trash. Please open a ticket if you would like your trash bin recovered. Genius!
This mail graced the box of EVERYONE in IT this morning from one of our uers.
Essentially the user is upset becuase their trash was emptied, apparently without warning. How amazing, trash, thrown away. This happens about once a week here from our users, "My Deleted Items are gone, I needed those, that is why I deleted them."
WTF - ? - Look up Delete on the Internet you dumbass.
Here is a picture of the "Deleted Items Folder". Damn, if that does not look like a trash can. Imagine, taking out the trash... unholy activity!
We had to send the user a message that on our system, she would have had to click an OK box or manually start the emptying of her trash. Please open a ticket if you would like your trash bin recovered. Genius!
Labels: e-mail, Outlook, stupid users
Monday, April 6
Cube Number 9
Ok, this is my nineth cube in 2.5 years at the job. I average about 3.5 months between moves. It takes about two days each move, so I've been paid now for about 18 days of moving.
Check it out, I have my main laptop with 2 19" displays. A small Thinkpad that I use for Network Analysis. A desktop with 2 17" Displays that I use for development and testing. And finally I have a Lenovo Ideapad that is mine from home I use for games and dinky stuff at lunch.
Check it out, I have my main laptop with 2 19" displays. A small Thinkpad that I use for Network Analysis. A desktop with 2 17" Displays that I use for development and testing. And finally I have a Lenovo Ideapad that is mine from home I use for games and dinky stuff at lunch.
Labels: cubefarm, netbook, work
Sunday, April 5
Terrific New Product!
Yes, this product was much needed, the world will be a better place.
Because when it comes to lips and assholes, ground up and grilled, you only want the finest, corn fed lips and assholes. No, no low quality lips and assholes for you.
Me, personally, I'm holding out Kobe Beef Frankfurters.
Because when it comes to lips and assholes, ground up and grilled, you only want the finest, corn fed lips and assholes. No, no low quality lips and assholes for you.
Me, personally, I'm holding out Kobe Beef Frankfurters.
Labels: dumb idea, stupid marketing, weiner, wtf
Wednesday, April 1
Best E-mail Address, EVER:
Got this from EMC tonight, this guy has to love his e-mail address:
Really thought it was going to be SPAM.
Really thought it was going to be SPAM.
Wednesday, March 25
True IT Stores
I can't make this shit up, really.
This is an actual ticket that was opened while I was at lunch. Mine is the longer of the two responses.
I can fix the Exchange Server, fix your Outlook, manage the VMware farm. But I'm not looking for a fucking ghost.
This is an actual ticket that was opened while I was at lunch. Mine is the longer of the two responses.
I can fix the Exchange Server, fix your Outlook, manage the VMware farm. But I'm not looking for a fucking ghost.
Labels: stupid users
Sunday, February 8
Four Oh Eight in the Effen AM!
Ok, I've been at the office since NOON YESTERDAY. We're trying to replicate our Exchange Server with a product called Double Take. We've had nothing but problems, solved one at a time through extensive troubleshooting.
Finally, just when it looks like things are working... I look up at the just started process and ask, "Why is Double Take deleting the Windows directory on the Target Server?" Over the tech support line, "Stop the process!"
Arrg...
Now they are waking up the Level 3 Support guy. I have this sneaking suspicion I am going to be loading Windows 2003 and Exchange 2003 from scratch again.
Update:
After a comment from a reader, I thought I should elaborate on what happend early Sunday morning...
In a nutshell, we were having some performance issues with our Target machine, and ainchient Compaq ML350 G3. We updated the Firmware on two RAID controllers and a NIC. We were not using Double Take Application Manager any longer to do the replication, we were using the Application Console. When we rebooted the machine after the updates, Double Take lost sight of the partitions on the seconed RAID controller. We did not catch this error, and the Application Console has fewer safetys than DTAM. As a result, it tried to wipe the C: drive to make it look like our first Storage Partition.
The techs at Double Take stayed on the phone with us for over 12 hours to work on the issues. They also called back the following day to tell us they had determined what happened. The logs were completely zapped, but they had a BOMGAR sessions recorded. Several of their Level 3 techs watched the BOMGAR session to figure out what happened.
They are also building in a safety to the Application Console to stop this from happening again. No data was lost, and everyone was very helpful. I also had a very solid tape backup of the Source and Data before we started on the project. It was mostly an inconvienence to reload an Exchange Server from bare metal at 4:30 AM.
Finally, just when it looks like things are working... I look up at the just started process and ask, "Why is Double Take deleting the Windows directory on the Target Server?" Over the tech support line, "Stop the process!"
Arrg...
Now they are waking up the Level 3 Support guy. I have this sneaking suspicion I am going to be loading Windows 2003 and Exchange 2003 from scratch again.
Update:
After a comment from a reader, I thought I should elaborate on what happend early Sunday morning...
In a nutshell, we were having some performance issues with our Target machine, and ainchient Compaq ML350 G3. We updated the Firmware on two RAID controllers and a NIC. We were not using Double Take Application Manager any longer to do the replication, we were using the Application Console. When we rebooted the machine after the updates, Double Take lost sight of the partitions on the seconed RAID controller. We did not catch this error, and the Application Console has fewer safetys than DTAM. As a result, it tried to wipe the C: drive to make it look like our first Storage Partition.
The techs at Double Take stayed on the phone with us for over 12 hours to work on the issues. They also called back the following day to tell us they had determined what happened. The logs were completely zapped, but they had a BOMGAR sessions recorded. Several of their Level 3 techs watched the BOMGAR session to figure out what happened.
They are also building in a safety to the Application Console to stop this from happening again. No data was lost, and everyone was very helpful. I also had a very solid tape backup of the Source and Data before we started on the project. It was mostly an inconvienence to reload an Exchange Server from bare metal at 4:30 AM.
Labels: 4 AM, bad support, double take, insomniac, microsoft
Tuesday, January 20
The Keepers Babe Of The Day
Over the weekend, one of my favorite webistes vanished. I couldn't find The Keepers Babe Of The Day. I've been reading it religiously for over 10 years. So, I e-mailed the keep. Evidently, without warning, his ISP went out of business. So he had to move. Here is the new link to The Keepers Babe Of The Day. I've mentioned it here a few times, even had some of my photos posted there, so here once again is a shout out to The Keepers Babe Of The Day webiste.
Saturday, January 17
Need Help With A Laptop Issue
Ok, last month I got hit by the Microsoft Internet Explorer Zero Day bug. It might just be a coincidence, it might be the root cause of many of my problems.
Last week my Alienware 51M laptop started having the Wireless NIC fail when it would come out of Hibernate or Sleep mode. The NIC connects, shows the network. If I go to the Command Prompt and run IPCONFIG, everything looks good. But if I try to ping the gateway, I get HARDWARE FAILURE. This happens if I try to ping anything but 127.0.0.1.
Very odd indeed.
The only way to get the NIC back is to reboot. When I reboot, I get the following error in the System Log:
Event Type: Error
Event Source: PSched
Event Category: None
Event ID: 14103
Date: 1/17/2009
Time: 9:22:37 AM
User: N/A
Computer: ALIEN2008
Description:
QoS [Adapter {F4518C6A-2EAD-44DE-9289-0B3C62A42D6F}]:
The netcard driver failed the query for OID_GEN_LINK_SPEED.
For more information, see Help and Support Center at http://go.microsoft.com/fwlink/events.asp.
Data:
0000: 00 00 04 00 02 00 56 00 ......V.
0008: 00 00 00 00 17 37 00 c0 .....7.À
0010: 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 ........
0018: 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 ........
0020: 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 ........
0028: 0d 00 01 c0 ...À
If I follow the link to Microsoft support for this error I get this:
Details
Product: Windows Operating System
ID: 14103
Source: PSched
Version: 5.0
Component: System Event Log
Symbolic Name: EVENT_PS_QUERY_OID_GEN_LINK_SPEED
Message: QoS [Adapter %2]:
The netcard driver failed the query for OID_GEN_LINK_SPEED.
Explanation
This event record indicates a serious problem.
User Action
Contact your technical support group or the Microsoft Product Support Services.
Yeah, go Microsoft, this is a serious problem, but we don't have a solutoin.
So I called Microsoft support and got a far as I could with free support. They told me that they were aware of the problem, and that I should just continue to reboot my machine as a work around.
WTF? It is a laptop, rebooting it over and over kind of defeats the purpose of having a laptop.
I've disabled all power management on the NIC, still no change. I've tried manually turning off the NIC before shutting down, no change. I looked in System Restore, but I don't have a restore point before 1/2009. This is all very infurating.
Anyone else out there have a similar problem, know a solution?
Last week my Alienware 51M laptop started having the Wireless NIC fail when it would come out of Hibernate or Sleep mode. The NIC connects, shows the network. If I go to the Command Prompt and run IPCONFIG, everything looks good. But if I try to ping the gateway, I get HARDWARE FAILURE. This happens if I try to ping anything but 127.0.0.1.
Very odd indeed.
The only way to get the NIC back is to reboot. When I reboot, I get the following error in the System Log:
Event Type: Error
Event Source: PSched
Event Category: None
Event ID: 14103
Date: 1/17/2009
Time: 9:22:37 AM
User: N/A
Computer: ALIEN2008
Description:
QoS [Adapter {F4518C6A-2EAD-44DE-9289-0B3C62A42D6F}]:
The netcard driver failed the query for OID_GEN_LINK_SPEED.
For more information, see Help and Support Center at http://go.microsoft.com/fwlink/events.asp.
Data:
0000: 00 00 04 00 02 00 56 00 ......V.
0008: 00 00 00 00 17 37 00 c0 .....7.À
0010: 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 ........
0018: 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 ........
0020: 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 ........
0028: 0d 00 01 c0 ...À
If I follow the link to Microsoft support for this error I get this:
Details
Product: Windows Operating System
ID: 14103
Source: PSched
Version: 5.0
Component: System Event Log
Symbolic Name: EVENT_PS_QUERY_OID_GEN_LINK_SPEED
Message: QoS [Adapter %2]:
The netcard driver failed the query for OID_GEN_LINK_SPEED.
Explanation
This event record indicates a serious problem.
User Action
Contact your technical support group or the Microsoft Product Support Services.
Yeah, go Microsoft, this is a serious problem, but we don't have a solutoin.
So I called Microsoft support and got a far as I could with free support. They told me that they were aware of the problem, and that I should just continue to reboot my machine as a work around.
WTF? It is a laptop, rebooting it over and over kind of defeats the purpose of having a laptop.
I've disabled all power management on the NIC, still no change. I've tried manually turning off the NIC before shutting down, no change. I looked in System Restore, but I don't have a restore point before 1/2009. This is all very infurating.
Anyone else out there have a similar problem, know a solution?
Labels: bad support, microsoft, wireless, zero day
Monday, December 15
Cool - I'm featured by "The Keeper"
I worked for a little PC reseller in Houston when the Interent took off. As a result, I had T1 access at work as far back as 1995. Somewhere around then, I discovered "The Keepers Babe Of The Day". I've been checking it almost daily ever since.
The site varies widely, and sometimes is NSFW. It can feature cars, airplanes, toys, very often Corvettes, naked pictures. All good stuff.
So I sent him my Space Shuttle pictures from last week, and he featured them today.
Oh, one last thing, his content changes daily and is not availble on any day except the one on which it is featured.
The site varies widely, and sometimes is NSFW. It can feature cars, airplanes, toys, very often Corvettes, naked pictures. All good stuff.
So I sent him my Space Shuttle pictures from last week, and he featured them today.
Oh, one last thing, his content changes daily and is not availble on any day except the one on which it is featured.
Labels: cool, keepers, other blogs, shuttle
Thursday, December 11
The Space Shuttle Has Landed
I had just come out of the office kitchen with my lunch when one of the other techs came up and said the Space Shuttle was flying by "RIGHT NOW!"
So I grabbed my trusty Sony DSC-P8 3.2MP camera and went out the door. Our office sits near the Johnson Space Center and Ellignton Air Force Base. The Shuttle is stopping off to refuel the 747 that is transporting it from California to Florida this week after mission STS-119.
This is the Space Shuttle Endeavour, I have also seen Challenger, Enterprise and Columbia here at Ellington Air Force Base over the years. Pretty dang cool, I never tire of watching this marvel of modern technology.
So I grabbed my trusty Sony DSC-P8 3.2MP camera and went out the door. Our office sits near the Johnson Space Center and Ellignton Air Force Base. The Shuttle is stopping off to refuel the 747 that is transporting it from California to Florida this week after mission STS-119.
This is the Space Shuttle Endeavour, I have also seen Challenger, Enterprise and Columbia here at Ellington Air Force Base over the years. Pretty dang cool, I never tire of watching this marvel of modern technology.
Labels: Endeavour, NASA, shuttle
Wednesday, December 10
It is snowing!
I didn't beat Jake for posting pictures of snow this year, but it is snowing in the Houston, Texas area tonight, I'll try to post some more pictures tomorrow morning. Hope this keeps up all night, I could get a day off from work!
Tuesday, December 9
HAH! I got you in trouble!
Ok, I take a lot of drugs. I have 3 prescriptions for blood pressure, 2 for insulin, one for diabetes testing, 2 for insulin needles, 1 for allergies, and I'm sure I'm forgetting something else that I take occasionally.
So, the coupons in the paper that give you gift cards at different pharmacies are like gold for me. I'm going to spend the money anyway, so I might as well get some back. Friends and family save them for me.
So today I called my local Walgreens, when I got to the pharmacist, he seemed perterbed that I had just transferred a prescription away from his pharmacy, and now I was trying to transer another into his pharmacy. When I told him it was to use the coupon, he seemed annoyed, but took my information.
Ten minutes later he called me back, said I wouldn't be able to use my coupon, they had a new policy that prohibited any customer from using more than one of these coupons, ever.
I asked, since it doesn't say that on the coupon, are you telling me that you won't honor your own coupons? He said yes and hung up on me.
Here is the coupon.
If you read the fine print, the only limitation says, "Limit one gift card offer per customer, per transaction."
So, I called the store back, and asked to speak to the manager. I explained to her what I was told, and what the coupon said. She said the pharmacist was wrong to tell me this, and it was indeed not their store policy. She then called the pharmacist while I was on hold. After about 5 mintues she transferred me back to him to have my prescription filled. Guess he got a good, deserved, ass chewing.
Sometimes wonder why people are so stupid, or think I'm so stupid to believe such lies.
So, the coupons in the paper that give you gift cards at different pharmacies are like gold for me. I'm going to spend the money anyway, so I might as well get some back. Friends and family save them for me.
So today I called my local Walgreens, when I got to the pharmacist, he seemed perterbed that I had just transferred a prescription away from his pharmacy, and now I was trying to transer another into his pharmacy. When I told him it was to use the coupon, he seemed annoyed, but took my information.
Ten minutes later he called me back, said I wouldn't be able to use my coupon, they had a new policy that prohibited any customer from using more than one of these coupons, ever.
I asked, since it doesn't say that on the coupon, are you telling me that you won't honor your own coupons? He said yes and hung up on me.
Here is the coupon.
If you read the fine print, the only limitation says, "Limit one gift card offer per customer, per transaction."
So, I called the store back, and asked to speak to the manager. I explained to her what I was told, and what the coupon said. She said the pharmacist was wrong to tell me this, and it was indeed not their store policy. She then called the pharmacist while I was on hold. After about 5 mintues she transferred me back to him to have my prescription filled. Guess he got a good, deserved, ass chewing.
Sometimes wonder why people are so stupid, or think I'm so stupid to believe such lies.
Labels: bad support, coupon, drugs, liar, prescription, walgreens
Wednesday, December 3
Dell Rep Screws Best Buy
Ok, I posted some funny e-mails from my Dell rep, even told him to stop e-mailing. He hasn't learned, but he did send this funny e-mail about Christmas shopping and what a rip-off Dell products are at Best Buy. No crap, e-mail from a Dell rep, cutting down their new business and distribution partner.
Message from your AE at Dell (important please read)
alphonso_quesada@dell.com
sent: wed 12/3/2008 2:15 PM
Hello,
I wanted to follow up with you for your Holliday shopping. Your account is in the corporate division therefore you get cost on everything that is electronic and computer accessories and TV etc. I can tell you right now that if you are buying from best buy or any other retailers you are paying too much. I wanted to reach out to you and see what you are looking at and I will be able to get you a better price. As your AE at Dell I want to look out for you and let you know that I have over 200k products that you probably have no idea we sell. Here is a big example of what I am talking about;
Best Buy-
http://www.bestbuy.com/site/olspage.jsp?_dyncharset=ISO-8859-1&id=pcat17071&type=page&st=KDL40XBR6&sc=Global&cp=1&nrp=15&sp=&qp=&list=n&iht=y&usc=All+Categories&ks=960
price- 2,299.99 regular
their sale price is 1,999.00
Dell-
http://accessories.us.dell.com/sna/products/Video_Conferencing/productdetail.aspx?c=us&l=en&s=bsd&cs=04&sku=A2018549
price- 2,299.99
online sale price- 1,999.00
your price 1,400.00 saved 600.00 dollars
Use this Link to look at what we offer and email me for quotes. Be more than welcome to shop my price. Just email me the part numbers you are looking to make it easier to quote you. I have to discount the product manually and send you a quote. Once again your price bracket is lower than consumers so you will always get a better price.
Follow this link ;
http://accessories.us.dell.com/sna/default.aspx?c=us&cs=04&l=en&s=bsd&~ck=mn
Alphonso Quesada
Senior Account Executive
RSR AcquisitionDell, Inc.
toll free number- 1800-901-3355 ext- 946-1562
Direct Line-# 512-946-1562
Fax: Fax: 512.283.9992
ATTN: Alphonso Quesada
Support Team;
Mason Lam
Software and Peripherals - Acquisition Account ManagerBusiness Sales DivisionDell, Inc.
1-800-901-3355
direct dial (512-946-0929)
Fax: (512-946-0929
Mason_lam@dell.com
I want to earn your business and shouldn't be beat on price. Call me today for networking equipment, MSOL Volume Licensing, phone systems, Tape Back-ups, and Power Products--as well as all other peripherals & upgrades!
Message from your AE at Dell (important please read)
alphonso_quesada@dell.com
sent: wed 12/3/2008 2:15 PM
Hello,
I wanted to follow up with you for your Holliday shopping. Your account is in the corporate division therefore you get cost on everything that is electronic and computer accessories and TV etc. I can tell you right now that if you are buying from best buy or any other retailers you are paying too much. I wanted to reach out to you and see what you are looking at and I will be able to get you a better price. As your AE at Dell I want to look out for you and let you know that I have over 200k products that you probably have no idea we sell. Here is a big example of what I am talking about;
Best Buy-
http://www.bestbuy.com/site/olspage.jsp?_dyncharset=ISO-8859-1&id=pcat17071&type=page&st=KDL40XBR6&sc=Global&cp=1&nrp=15&sp=&qp=&list=n&iht=y&usc=All+Categories&ks=960
price- 2,299.99 regular
their sale price is 1,999.00
Dell-
http://accessories.us.dell.com/sna/products/Video_Conferencing/productdetail.aspx?c=us&l=en&s=bsd&cs=04&sku=A2018549
price- 2,299.99
online sale price- 1,999.00
your price 1,400.00 saved 600.00 dollars
Use this Link to look at what we offer and email me for quotes. Be more than welcome to shop my price. Just email me the part numbers you are looking to make it easier to quote you. I have to discount the product manually and send you a quote. Once again your price bracket is lower than consumers so you will always get a better price.
Follow this link ;
http://accessories.us.dell.com/sna/default.aspx?c=us&cs=04&l=en&s=bsd&~ck=mn
Alphonso Quesada
Senior Account Executive
RSR AcquisitionDell, Inc.
toll free number- 1800-901-3355 ext- 946-1562
Direct Line-# 512-946-1562
Fax: Fax: 512.283.9992
ATTN: Alphonso Quesada
Support Team;
Mason Lam
Software and Peripherals - Acquisition Account ManagerBusiness Sales DivisionDell, Inc.
1-800-901-3355
direct dial (512-946-0929)
Fax: (512-946-0929
Mason_lam@dell.com
I want to earn your business and shouldn't be beat on price. Call me today for networking equipment, MSOL Volume Licensing, phone systems, Tape Back-ups, and Power Products--as well as all other peripherals & upgrades!
Labels: best buy, dell, stupid marketing
Monday, November 17
Really? Dell makes the wrong demand...
This was in my work e-mail late today:
Hello,
I wanted to follow up with you again and see if you got my last few emails I sent you. Your account is set in our corporate division so your company gets the best pricing and service available at Dell. I must establish contact with you or someone in your company. Please let me know if there is any purchases you have coming up or any projects so I can start working with you to provide you the best solution. thanks
Alphonso Quesada
Senior Account ExecutiveRSR AcquisitionDell, Inc.
toll free number- 1800-901-3355 ext- 946-1562
Direct Line-# 512-946-1562
Fax: Fax: 512.283.9992 ATTN: Alphonso Quesada
Account Team;
Joseph Gibbonsmailto:GibbonsJoseph_Gibbons@Dell.com
Senior Server, Network, and Storage Specialist
800-901-3355 ext. 9460611. Direct dial 512-946-0611
Ok, they "must establish contact" with someone in my company? Or what? They will be out of a job? And examine the grammar of the first sentance. What is that, writing on about the third grade level?
Update! 11-18-2008:
Ok, I sent back a response telling this moron that we were an HP shop. So he sent me this message this morning:
From: Alphonso_Quesada@Dell.com [mailto:Alphonso_Quesada@Dell.com]
Sent: Tuesday, November 18, 2008 8:24 AM
Subject: RE:
Great to hear that. My job in the acq team is to help you achieve your goals. Dell have changed around and have made all his focus to customer focus. What can I do to help you guys?
So, I had to reply again...
I’m having a difficult time believing you actually work for Dell. Your grammar is atrocious.
Unless you go to work for HP, I don’t see much you can do to help us out.
However, purchasing a book on English Grammar and Sentence Structure could be a major step in helping yourself. Although there are several sentences in the correspondence you have sent to me that are poorly constructed, this one stands out the most:
Dell have changed around and have made all his focus to customer focus.
Did you really read this before you sent it out?
Please, don’t waste my time and yours with poorly thought out sales pitches saying you MUST get in touch with someone at my company.
Hello,
I wanted to follow up with you again and see if you got my last few emails I sent you. Your account is set in our corporate division so your company gets the best pricing and service available at Dell. I must establish contact with you or someone in your company. Please let me know if there is any purchases you have coming up or any projects so I can start working with you to provide you the best solution. thanks
Alphonso Quesada
Senior Account ExecutiveRSR AcquisitionDell, Inc.
toll free number- 1800-901-3355 ext- 946-1562
Direct Line-# 512-946-1562
Fax: Fax: 512.283.9992 ATTN: Alphonso Quesada
Account Team;
Joseph Gibbonsmailto:GibbonsJoseph_Gibbons@Dell.com
Senior Server, Network, and Storage Specialist
800-901-3355 ext. 9460611. Direct dial 512-946-0611
Ok, they "must establish contact" with someone in my company? Or what? They will be out of a job? And examine the grammar of the first sentance. What is that, writing on about the third grade level?
Update! 11-18-2008:
Ok, I sent back a response telling this moron that we were an HP shop. So he sent me this message this morning:
From: Alphonso_Quesada@Dell.com [mailto:Alphonso_Quesada@Dell.com]
Sent: Tuesday, November 18, 2008 8:24 AM
Subject: RE:
Great to hear that. My job in the acq team is to help you achieve your goals. Dell have changed around and have made all his focus to customer focus. What can I do to help you guys?
So, I had to reply again...
I’m having a difficult time believing you actually work for Dell. Your grammar is atrocious.
Unless you go to work for HP, I don’t see much you can do to help us out.
However, purchasing a book on English Grammar and Sentence Structure could be a major step in helping yourself. Although there are several sentences in the correspondence you have sent to me that are poorly constructed, this one stands out the most:
Dell have changed around and have made all his focus to customer focus.
Did you really read this before you sent it out?
Please, don’t waste my time and yours with poorly thought out sales pitches saying you MUST get in touch with someone at my company.
Labels: bad support, dell, stupid marketing
Thursday, October 30
Grabbing my ankles...
Hurricane Ike continues to have it's way with me....
We got a call Saturday night from the insurance adjuster. They have to e-mail us some paperwork to fill out, ok we tell them, we'll be watching for the paperwork.
So, here we are 5 days later, no paperwork. So I call the adjuster firm, Quality Assurance Adjusting, LLC. They can't help me, I have to call the adjuster directly. So, I call the adjuster directly, she hangs up on me the first time the phone rings, then lets it go to voice mail the second time I call. Great, left a message.
In the meantime, I take a closer look at my papwerwork from the Texas Wind Storm Insurance Association, and I realize that even though my e-mail address is supposed to match my name, the genius that took my information managed to misspell my name. So I call them. They can't help me, they don't keep records of the claims after they are filed. WTF? How the hell do you not keep records of insurance claims at a state agency when you are paying out hundreds of millions of dollars?
So, back to calling Quality Assurance Adjusting, LLC. The woman on the phone said she wouldn't change it on her "Screen" as it is a PDF, and my adjuster Jenny Finch wouldn't see it on her "Screen". No shit.
I've given up on contacting Nationwide Insurance on this issue, they've been less than worthless throughout the entire process of making a claim.
We got a call Saturday night from the insurance adjuster. They have to e-mail us some paperwork to fill out, ok we tell them, we'll be watching for the paperwork.
So, here we are 5 days later, no paperwork. So I call the adjuster firm, Quality Assurance Adjusting, LLC. They can't help me, I have to call the adjuster directly. So, I call the adjuster directly, she hangs up on me the first time the phone rings, then lets it go to voice mail the second time I call. Great, left a message.
In the meantime, I take a closer look at my papwerwork from the Texas Wind Storm Insurance Association, and I realize that even though my e-mail address is supposed to match my name, the genius that took my information managed to misspell my name. So I call them. They can't help me, they don't keep records of the claims after they are filed. WTF? How the hell do you not keep records of insurance claims at a state agency when you are paying out hundreds of millions of dollars?
So, back to calling Quality Assurance Adjusting, LLC. The woman on the phone said she wouldn't change it on her "Screen" as it is a PDF, and my adjuster Jenny Finch wouldn't see it on her "Screen". No shit.
I've given up on contacting Nationwide Insurance on this issue, they've been less than worthless throughout the entire process of making a claim.
Labels: bad support, hurricane, ike, nationwode, Quality Assurance LLC, TWIA
Tuesday, October 21
Direct TV - You continue to dissapoint me...
Ok, got home today, and the Direct TV receiver wouldn't work. I had to open up the front cover and reset the system, then wait the 15 minutes till it came back up ready to run. Then, just after 7 PM, it comes up with a message asking my approval to "download data". So I said OK. The stupid thing reboots again, and I'm faced with this screen.
What the fuck? Come on, really, did you need to upgrade my software right at the start of prime time? How long till I can watch my friggin' TV again? Direct TV - YOU SUCK.
What a bunch of idiots. Why couldn't this wait till the middle of the night? Two weeks ago you zapped everyone with a bogus software upgrade, now this crap.
(update)
Called Direct TV, got their usual BS message about if you are having these problems, we know, reboot your receiver. We are having unusually high call volumes, please call back at another time. Continued horrible service!
What the fuck? Come on, really, did you need to upgrade my software right at the start of prime time? How long till I can watch my friggin' TV again? Direct TV - YOU SUCK.
What a bunch of idiots. Why couldn't this wait till the middle of the night? Two weeks ago you zapped everyone with a bogus software upgrade, now this crap.
(update)
Called Direct TV, got their usual BS message about if you are having these problems, we know, reboot your receiver. We are having unusually high call volumes, please call back at another time. Continued horrible service!
Labels: bad product, bad support, direct tv
Wednesday, October 8
Direct TV - The Saga Continues
Woke up yesterday morning, my flaky Direct TV DVR wouldn't work. I had to reset it and remove power for about 15 seconds for it to work. Did the same thing for my wife later in the day.
I called the 800 number and got a message about 5 PM, indicating that they were swamped with calls and aware of this problem.
Today I got the following e-mail from Direct TV:
Yep, that's right, they updated the software in ALL THEIR DVRS AND MADE THEM NON-FUNCTIONAL FOR THE DAY. Stupid. Just plain amazing that a company this large can be so incompetent as to shut down a huge portion of it's customer base with a bad software patch. Irresponsible. Unacceptable. I'm going to give serious consideration now to calling Dish Network about their all HD packages that start at just $24.99. Direct TV doesn't even have a competiting offer like this for me to get what I really want from them either.
I called the 800 number and got a message about 5 PM, indicating that they were swamped with calls and aware of this problem.
Today I got the following e-mail from Direct TV:
Yep, that's right, they updated the software in ALL THEIR DVRS AND MADE THEM NON-FUNCTIONAL FOR THE DAY. Stupid. Just plain amazing that a company this large can be so incompetent as to shut down a huge portion of it's customer base with a bad software patch. Irresponsible. Unacceptable. I'm going to give serious consideration now to calling Dish Network about their all HD packages that start at just $24.99. Direct TV doesn't even have a competiting offer like this for me to get what I really want from them either.
Labels: bad product, bad support, direct tv
Saturday, October 4
3 Weeks & Counting
Three weeks now since Hurricane Ike. Two weeks since power was restored to my house.
In insurance news, I have a meeting Wednesday afternoon with my adjuster from the Texas Wind Insurance Association. This week I got a letter from Nationwide Insurance, declining my claim, stating all damage to my house was due to Windstorm. Well duh, but what about the things you dummies were supposed to cover, like the food in my refrigerator. Worthless. I've paid over $20K in premiums over the years to Nationwide and I can't get $250 for something simple? Thanks, "Nationwide is on my side", my ass they are.
Back in August I wrote about my issues with Direct TV and the problems with my new DVR. Well, made another call last Sunday when the stupid thing recorded nothing but a black screen for the season premier of The Simpsons. Got a different tech on the line. The missing part that they had insisted I didn't need for the previous three calls turned out to be the culprit in my problems. They sent me a new one for free and things started working right. It is amzaing, two Direct TV installers couldn't install my DVR properly. It took six calls to their support before someone would send me a missing part. Worst, stupidest service department ever.
On Monday at lunch, I ran a stupid, media induced errand for a family friend. He grew up with us, but has since moved away to the Atlanta, Georgia area. He saw news reports that there was massive devistation of cemetaries throughout the region. His sister is burried here, and he was extrememly upset, thought that something might have happened to her grave. So I went out at lunch and checked things out. There was nothing wrong there, not even a sign that the hurricane had passed. Took some phone pictures and sent them to him to alieveate his feelings. Quite annoying that the media can make things look so much worse than they are here. They are bad enough, but like I've said before, the devistation is spotty, here and there, not everything everywhere is destroyed, or even damaged. The closer you get to the Gulf Of Mexico, the worse things get overall, but even there, most of the extreme devistation you see is concentrated to within a few miles of the coast.
I've gotten a bunch of little chores done here around the house today. Going to wrap them up before my wife gets home with the kids. She took them to her mom's overnight, it was a good little break for everyone.
In insurance news, I have a meeting Wednesday afternoon with my adjuster from the Texas Wind Insurance Association. This week I got a letter from Nationwide Insurance, declining my claim, stating all damage to my house was due to Windstorm. Well duh, but what about the things you dummies were supposed to cover, like the food in my refrigerator. Worthless. I've paid over $20K in premiums over the years to Nationwide and I can't get $250 for something simple? Thanks, "Nationwide is on my side", my ass they are.
Back in August I wrote about my issues with Direct TV and the problems with my new DVR. Well, made another call last Sunday when the stupid thing recorded nothing but a black screen for the season premier of The Simpsons. Got a different tech on the line. The missing part that they had insisted I didn't need for the previous three calls turned out to be the culprit in my problems. They sent me a new one for free and things started working right. It is amzaing, two Direct TV installers couldn't install my DVR properly. It took six calls to their support before someone would send me a missing part. Worst, stupidest service department ever.
On Monday at lunch, I ran a stupid, media induced errand for a family friend. He grew up with us, but has since moved away to the Atlanta, Georgia area. He saw news reports that there was massive devistation of cemetaries throughout the region. His sister is burried here, and he was extrememly upset, thought that something might have happened to her grave. So I went out at lunch and checked things out. There was nothing wrong there, not even a sign that the hurricane had passed. Took some phone pictures and sent them to him to alieveate his feelings. Quite annoying that the media can make things look so much worse than they are here. They are bad enough, but like I've said before, the devistation is spotty, here and there, not everything everywhere is destroyed, or even damaged. The closer you get to the Gulf Of Mexico, the worse things get overall, but even there, most of the extreme devistation you see is concentrated to within a few miles of the coast.
I've gotten a bunch of little chores done here around the house today. Going to wrap them up before my wife gets home with the kids. She took them to her mom's overnight, it was a good little break for everyone.
Labels: cemetary, hurricane, ike
Friday, September 26
The more things strange, the more the stay lame...
It has been a very odd week around here. Some things and places are very normal, some places look like the hurricane hit yesterday. And there is no rhyme or reason to the patterns. The Wal-Mart on my end of town is business as usual. The Wal-Mart at the other end of town still does not have full power or perishable groceries.
After a week like last week, you begin to notice the odd things you missed. Speed Racer The Movie came out on DVD last Tuesday. I didn't get to take advantage of the release week Sale Price becuase no stores were open to sell it to me, and none of them would have had stock anyway I think. Wonder why they didn't extend sale prices on things like this for their customers. Oh well, I'll have to wait till it goes on sale to see Christina Ricci as Trixie again I guess.
Meanwhile, I've had my first visit from a Nationwide Insurance adjuster. Spent less than five minutes at my house, taking pictures and then just left, didn't say bye, didn't leave a business card. Nice. Called Nationwide just to be sure he was really one of their employees. Nationwide has been nearly worthless in this experience. I've been passed around by adjusters, then told I had to file my own claim with the Texas Wind Insurance Agency. Contacted them, they said my agent had to file. My agent doesn't answer his phone, and his voice mail box is full. The 800 claims number from Nationwide couldn't help me, the adjustor couldn't help me, I finally had to push and file with TWIA on my own. I'm thinking I should find a Homeowners/Windstorm/Flood insurance agent far from here, say San Antonio or Dallas. Somewhere that if I have a problem, they aren't likely to have the same problem or worse. Next time you hear that commercial that says "Nationwide is on your side", be glad. I can't imagine what they would be doing to me if they were not on my side.
Things at work are sort of back to normal. Last week while we were on generator power, we had to rig up some workstations with Extension cords and power strips. One of our genius users unplugged a working system, re-wired it, then called us when it was not working. The picture is below. Yep, they plugged one power strip into another, then a thrid daisy chained off the loop. Wondered why they had no power to the devices on these strips. No kidding, true story.
Those of us that worked the hurricane got a $1000 bonus today. About $800 after taxes. I took $100 of it to the Spec's Liquor Warehouse and got a 750ml bottle of Don Juilo Tequila for shooting. A 1.75L bottle of Jimmy Buffet's Margaritaville Tequila for making drinks. And a 24 pack of Red Stripe for my wife, who sent me text saying, "Don't come home without Red Stripe beer or I will kill you." At least she knows how to negoiate. Also saw the funniest brand of Tequila ever, "Don Nacho". Would someone actually buy this, thinking Nacho is good? Sure, Nacho makes a great Cheese, but Tequila?
After a week like last week, you begin to notice the odd things you missed. Speed Racer The Movie came out on DVD last Tuesday. I didn't get to take advantage of the release week Sale Price becuase no stores were open to sell it to me, and none of them would have had stock anyway I think. Wonder why they didn't extend sale prices on things like this for their customers. Oh well, I'll have to wait till it goes on sale to see Christina Ricci as Trixie again I guess.
Meanwhile, I've had my first visit from a Nationwide Insurance adjuster. Spent less than five minutes at my house, taking pictures and then just left, didn't say bye, didn't leave a business card. Nice. Called Nationwide just to be sure he was really one of their employees. Nationwide has been nearly worthless in this experience. I've been passed around by adjusters, then told I had to file my own claim with the Texas Wind Insurance Agency. Contacted them, they said my agent had to file. My agent doesn't answer his phone, and his voice mail box is full. The 800 claims number from Nationwide couldn't help me, the adjustor couldn't help me, I finally had to push and file with TWIA on my own. I'm thinking I should find a Homeowners/Windstorm/Flood insurance agent far from here, say San Antonio or Dallas. Somewhere that if I have a problem, they aren't likely to have the same problem or worse. Next time you hear that commercial that says "Nationwide is on your side", be glad. I can't imagine what they would be doing to me if they were not on my side.
Things at work are sort of back to normal. Last week while we were on generator power, we had to rig up some workstations with Extension cords and power strips. One of our genius users unplugged a working system, re-wired it, then called us when it was not working. The picture is below. Yep, they plugged one power strip into another, then a thrid daisy chained off the loop. Wondered why they had no power to the devices on these strips. No kidding, true story.
Those of us that worked the hurricane got a $1000 bonus today. About $800 after taxes. I took $100 of it to the Spec's Liquor Warehouse and got a 750ml bottle of Don Juilo Tequila for shooting. A 1.75L bottle of Jimmy Buffet's Margaritaville Tequila for making drinks. And a 24 pack of Red Stripe for my wife, who sent me text saying, "Don't come home without Red Stripe beer or I will kill you." At least she knows how to negoiate. Also saw the funniest brand of Tequila ever, "Don Nacho". Would someone actually buy this, thinking Nacho is good? Sure, Nacho makes a great Cheese, but Tequila?
One of Jamica's finest exports. And a good way to keep the wife from killing me...
Labels: beer, dvd, hurricane, speed racer, stupid users, tequila
Sunday, September 21
Rome wasn't built in a day...
And the mess around here won't get fixed much faster.
Yesterday we got up early, had a nice breakfast at my folks house, packed up the kids, dog and junk and headed home. I made a trip to Lowe's with the boy, we spent $135 on cleaning supplies. Then, when I got home from that expedition I started tearing out wet sheet rock. I didn't do much, I'm too tired to be mega productive at this point.
Then ordered pizza, a loaded one for ourselves, cheese for the kids.
This morning the wife went for donuts. We had some good coffee, but the donuts were only so-so, but there was only one donut shop open in town, beggars cannot be choosers. I've now steam cleaned most of the downstairs carpet, trying to get rid of the stench around here. There is a big fan in the boy's room trying to dry things out. To add insult to injury, the wife's mini-van would not start this morning, so it is on the battery charger and I've added some water. Why won't Ford and all it's subsidiaries put in maintenance free batteries?
It is close to Lunchtime. I think we might have lunch, naptime and then go to the mall. We don't have any money, but it would be nice to escape for a little while.
Oh, I got a call yesterday, I do qualify for FEMA aid. So at least I can get some help with the $4350 deductable from my insurance. Still might have to sell a kidney or start work as a gigilo in the evenings. Guess I need to call my doctor about getting some Viagra.
Here are some more random photos from the hurricane.
"I drove from Alaska to Texas and all they had waiting for me was a Category 2 hurricane!"
Big RV lot near my home, nice that they didn't attempt to move or strap down any of their inventory.
.jpg)
Neighbor's house behind me, guess they won't be watching the new TV season.
From up on my roof, the one thing I was really worried about, our shed. It had no damage, no water leakage, didn't budge an inch. I'm staying in there nesxt Hurricane.
Yesterday we got up early, had a nice breakfast at my folks house, packed up the kids, dog and junk and headed home. I made a trip to Lowe's with the boy, we spent $135 on cleaning supplies. Then, when I got home from that expedition I started tearing out wet sheet rock. I didn't do much, I'm too tired to be mega productive at this point.
Then ordered pizza, a loaded one for ourselves, cheese for the kids.
From New York Pizzaria - New York Village - Sausage, Pepperoni, Ham, Ground Beef, Sausage, Black Olives, Green Olives & Mushrooms. MMMMMM....
Much like the enchilada plate a couple of days ago, this was a nice reprieve from things. Drank some cold Miller High Life to wash it all down. Then, while the kids watched Sponge Bob upstairs, the wife and I watched Matrix Reloaded. The boy still can't sleep in his room, so he got to spend the night on the couch upstairs.This morning the wife went for donuts. We had some good coffee, but the donuts were only so-so, but there was only one donut shop open in town, beggars cannot be choosers. I've now steam cleaned most of the downstairs carpet, trying to get rid of the stench around here. There is a big fan in the boy's room trying to dry things out. To add insult to injury, the wife's mini-van would not start this morning, so it is on the battery charger and I've added some water. Why won't Ford and all it's subsidiaries put in maintenance free batteries?
It is close to Lunchtime. I think we might have lunch, naptime and then go to the mall. We don't have any money, but it would be nice to escape for a little while.
Oh, I got a call yesterday, I do qualify for FEMA aid. So at least I can get some help with the $4350 deductable from my insurance. Still might have to sell a kidney or start work as a gigilo in the evenings. Guess I need to call my doctor about getting some Viagra.
Here are some more random photos from the hurricane.
"I drove from Alaska to Texas and all they had waiting for me was a Category 2 hurricane!"
Big RV lot near my home, nice that they didn't attempt to move or strap down any of their inventory.
.jpg)
Neighbor's house behind me, guess they won't be watching the new TV season.
From up on my roof, the one thing I was really worried about, our shed. It had no damage, no water leakage, didn't budge an inch. I'm staying in there nesxt Hurricane.
Labels: FEMA, huricane, normal, pizza
Saturday, September 20
I have the power!
The power came back on at my house after we had all the kids down for bed last night. We drove over, there is no cable modem yet, but we turned the AC down low to help dry things out, closed up the fridge, tested all the lights.
Now we're packing up stuff at my folk's house. Taking a while, stuff has sort of trickled over here all week. Our house was without power for almost exactally 7 days.
Thinkpad USB Modem or Cable Modem I will be online at home tonight, on MY TV, on MY Surround Sound, on MY Couch. Woot!
I'm so jazzed!Still have a long road ahead, but sleeping in MY bed at MY house tonight will really be nice.
Now we're packing up stuff at my folk's house. Taking a while, stuff has sort of trickled over here all week. Our house was without power for almost exactally 7 days.
Thinkpad USB Modem or Cable Modem I will be online at home tonight, on MY TV, on MY Surround Sound, on MY Couch. Woot!
I'm so jazzed!Still have a long road ahead, but sleeping in MY bed at MY house tonight will really be nice.
Friday, September 19
Normal?
Things are starting to get back to different degrees of normal around here. My parent's hosue now has electricity and the cable modem is back and working. My house has neither of these, and currently Centerpoint Energy is saying next week sometime, maybe later. Of course they said the same thing about my dad's house.
I was supposed to meet with a roofer yesterday, but he never showed up, I have an appointment with him at 10:30 AM today. We do have tarps (or 30 mil plastic) covering the dmage now. But the house looked terrible after the storm.
.jpg)
And while there are folks out there a lot worse off than my family, this is still very trying. I can't get into my routine. And it is the intangibles I miss. Yesterday I found an open Taco Cabana near my house and had some really good Beef Enchiladas, rice & beans. Felt really good to do something familiar like dine at a counter service resturant.
I've priced out a replacment trampoline, it is $139, the safety net is $89, and a set of spikes to hold it in place are $20. Didn't know they made spikes for these things. My son was, and still is very upset about the hurricane demolishing his trampoline. "Daddy, why did the hurricane break my trampoline?"
I started back to work on Monday, we didn't get power at the building till Tuesday. It has already failed once since then, and we didn't get AC back till late Wednesday. I took this really pretty sunrise photo from my parent's back yard on Tuesday morning.
The rest of these photos are kind of random, just various destruction and damage I saw. Some of it is my house, some other folks houses.
I was supposed to meet with a roofer yesterday, but he never showed up, I have an appointment with him at 10:30 AM today. We do have tarps (or 30 mil plastic) covering the dmage now. But the house looked terrible after the storm.
.jpg)
And while there are folks out there a lot worse off than my family, this is still very trying. I can't get into my routine. And it is the intangibles I miss. Yesterday I found an open Taco Cabana near my house and had some really good Beef Enchiladas, rice & beans. Felt really good to do something familiar like dine at a counter service resturant.
I've priced out a replacment trampoline, it is $139, the safety net is $89, and a set of spikes to hold it in place are $20. Didn't know they made spikes for these things. My son was, and still is very upset about the hurricane demolishing his trampoline. "Daddy, why did the hurricane break my trampoline?"
I started back to work on Monday, we didn't get power at the building till Tuesday. It has already failed once since then, and we didn't get AC back till late Wednesday. I took this really pretty sunrise photo from my parent's back yard on Tuesday morning.
The rest of these photos are kind of random, just various destruction and damage I saw. Some of it is my house, some other folks houses.
Labels: damage, dining, hurricane, sunrise
Wednesday, September 17
No rest for the weary...
I spent most of Sunday at the house, waiting for the roofing company to arrive and put up tarps on our roof. They didn't get there till very late in the day, and it rained most of the morning, so I mostly tried to take care of the house.
Our front door no longer opens, there is water damage in every room of the front of the house, upstairs and down. We lost one tree, and have another that might not survive.
Monday I went to the office for about half a day, the realized I left my laptop and aircard there. So I grabbed up the wife and kids and we went on an expedition. Back to the office, got the stuff, and found a Target that was open. Not much food, all the perishables were thrown out. But we did get some snacks and new toys for all the kids.
Tuesday I worked at the house all day, but did some remote work for the company. I trimmed th tree that was damaged, then topped the second tree that is not going to make it from the damage. Inspected the roof, hauled off a ton of trash. I now have a pile of tree limbs, trampoline and shingles the size of a car in front of my house. About noon my oldest came home, he is very upset that Ike destroyed his trampoline. And it was tough to explain why this happened.
Today I'm back at the office, we have power, but the AC didn't come on till about 11 AM. Someone took lunch orders, but never came to my cube. Thanks, I didn't want lunch. My wife called to say that she opened a closet upstairs that she hadn't checked yet, and everything inside is soaked. Evidently the light fixture for that closet was the drain for the attic. Great, now I get to go remove wet carpet after work. I need a vacation.
At least we have a warm bed to sleep in, and air conditioning. My parent's Natural Gas generator kicks ass. And we are a lot better off than a lot of folks from this disaster. At least I'm not waiting in line for MREs, water and ice.
Think I'm going to crawl under my desk and take a nap now...
Our front door no longer opens, there is water damage in every room of the front of the house, upstairs and down. We lost one tree, and have another that might not survive.
Monday I went to the office for about half a day, the realized I left my laptop and aircard there. So I grabbed up the wife and kids and we went on an expedition. Back to the office, got the stuff, and found a Target that was open. Not much food, all the perishables were thrown out. But we did get some snacks and new toys for all the kids.
Tuesday I worked at the house all day, but did some remote work for the company. I trimmed th tree that was damaged, then topped the second tree that is not going to make it from the damage. Inspected the roof, hauled off a ton of trash. I now have a pile of tree limbs, trampoline and shingles the size of a car in front of my house. About noon my oldest came home, he is very upset that Ike destroyed his trampoline. And it was tough to explain why this happened.
Today I'm back at the office, we have power, but the AC didn't come on till about 11 AM. Someone took lunch orders, but never came to my cube. Thanks, I didn't want lunch. My wife called to say that she opened a closet upstairs that she hadn't checked yet, and everything inside is soaked. Evidently the light fixture for that closet was the drain for the attic. Great, now I get to go remove wet carpet after work. I need a vacation.
At least we have a warm bed to sleep in, and air conditioning. My parent's Natural Gas generator kicks ass. And we are a lot better off than a lot of folks from this disaster. At least I'm not waiting in line for MREs, water and ice.
Think I'm going to crawl under my desk and take a nap now...
Labels: hurricane
Monday, September 15
Update - And am I tired..
I'm back at work today. Thanks to everyone who sent well wishes about our situation here with Ike.
I'm at work today, our corporate Interenet connection has gone away, along with our main phone system. I'm now connected via USB Verizion Broadband.
I've gotten all our systems up, with a lot of help from my team. Waiting on VMware to call me about an issue. Had hell with EMC this morning getting the SAN back up and running. If you understand any of that last paragraph, you're a huge geek like me!
On the home front - we have our roof protected with a cover now, so we don't have to worry about rain. We have extensive water damage, and the house got knocked crooked by the winds, the front door no longer opens and closes properly, windows are physically pushed into the house, everything is a mess. I got our fence mostly repaired yesterday and trimmed the storm damaged trees as best as I could to keep them from rotting. I have one tree that is fallin down, and I don't think I'll be able to save it from death.
Kids don't seem too affected by things, but my oldest has not come home to find out his beloved trampoline is gone either.
I managed to play some Call Of Duty online last night before bed, so things are sort of getting back towards normal. We still don't have power, and the Cable Modems are still down everywhere.
Hope everyone is having a better week than we are out here.
I'm at work today, our corporate Interenet connection has gone away, along with our main phone system. I'm now connected via USB Verizion Broadband.
I've gotten all our systems up, with a lot of help from my team. Waiting on VMware to call me about an issue. Had hell with EMC this morning getting the SAN back up and running. If you understand any of that last paragraph, you're a huge geek like me!
On the home front - we have our roof protected with a cover now, so we don't have to worry about rain. We have extensive water damage, and the house got knocked crooked by the winds, the front door no longer opens and closes properly, windows are physically pushed into the house, everything is a mess. I got our fence mostly repaired yesterday and trimmed the storm damaged trees as best as I could to keep them from rotting. I have one tree that is fallin down, and I don't think I'll be able to save it from death.
Kids don't seem too affected by things, but my oldest has not come home to find out his beloved trampoline is gone either.
I managed to play some Call Of Duty online last night before bed, so things are sort of getting back towards normal. We still don't have power, and the Cable Modems are still down everywhere.
Hope everyone is having a better week than we are out here.
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