Stubs

After years of putting it off, I have finally archived my old ticket stubs. Is collecting ticket stubs an odd hobby? Some people collect stamps, others collect old bottles (beer, spirits, soda, etc...); so I never thought that saving my old stubs from movies as an odd thing to do. The oldest stub I have is from the movie 'Shrek' dated 5/18/01. My friends and I thought it we were much older than the demographic this movie was meant for. But after setting aside the fact we were the oldest people in attendance without children, we had a good time.

I wonder if there is a corelation between the quality of the film and the relationship with the people you see them with? For example, most of the movies I've seen with the first person I dated were horrible: Ghostship, Solaris, Sweet Home Alabama, Imposter, Resident Evil. The only movie that was somewhat redeeming -- which probably helped us stay together a bit longer -- was My Big Fat Greek Wedding, which I really enjoyed (the TV show, not so much). But that wasn't enough to make up for all of the other poor choice...so that relationship ended. The movies that I saw with the last person I dated started off well with Wimbledon, and ended horribly with Alexander.

I might use movie selections as one of many criteria to judge whether or not a relationship will work. It couldn't be any worst than my current methods of selection.

Letting Go

Walking away from someone you have known for over a decade can be hard. But you have to let go of someone that you no longer trust, and does not value you as much as you do them. Someone who mocks you when need them most, who laughs at your troubles, and only needs you when it serves their own best interest -- is that really a friend? And what does it say about the person who allows this to happen?

I have consciously try to keep some of my friendships superficial so I don't open myself up for disappointment. Allowing someone who has disappointed/hurt you on numerous occasions is contrary to what I want in a person. This all became apparant to me yesterday -- with a phone call that illuminated the character of this person -- but I decided not to do anything until I slept on it. After a good night's rest, there was no change in how I felt and decided to divest myself from this relationship.

So . . . it is over.

RAID 0, 1, 0+1, etc...

While working in our server room this past week and seeing how all the computer equipment has been configured. I noticed a rack of 12 computer hard disk drives (HDDs) providing the company with applications, user information, and synchronized data to and from the computers at the company's headquarters in Minnesota. The use of multiple HHDs helps improve perfromance network server and provides fault tolerance for network servers. The process is knows as Redundant Array of Inexpensive Disks, as known simply as RAID.

There are several types of RAID configurations but the most widely used are:

• RAID 0 - The fastest but provides no redundancy, so if one of your drives crash all your data cannot be recovered.
  
• RAID 1 - Provides the best redundancy because all data is mirrored on all of the drives, but it is slower.
  
• RAID 0+1 - A hybrid resulting in speed and redundacy.
  
• RAID 5 - The industry standard due to the use of parity that provides good fault tolerance.

I have decided to create my own RAID system, but on a smaller scale. I bought 2 Serial ATA HDDs and I will configure them in a RAID 0 configuration. I am looking to improve the speed of applications and games, but not redundancy. I will store all of my vital data on a traditional EIDE HDD. Hopefully I will see improved performance in my computer. If not, it would still be a good learning experience.

Bjork and Fiona Apple

Today marks the end for the third week of my new job. This week has been busy with mostly repetitive work (scanning barcodes, finalizing an inventory list, etc...) but the time flew by because of my iPod. I decided to take this time to listen to those albums that I have often pasted over.

All of Bjork's albums have been on my iPod since my trip to Pittsburgh to visit a good friend of mine. I started with her aptly titled first album 'Debut' during the ride down, and followed it with her second album 'Post' during the ride back to Buffalo. At first listen, I thought that they were okay albums. I was a bit thrown off by her lyrical phrasing and vocals. This week after relistening to the first two albums, as well her other three, I have found her weirdly wonderful. Her lastest album 'Medulla' is the most interesting because it is almost devoid of musical instruments -- besides the human voice. Layering guttural noise, choirs, gibberish, and beatboxing into beautiful soundscape complimented by her vocals and lyrics. It is becoming one of my favorite albums. I would recommend it to anyone with an open mind to music.

Fiona Apple was someone that I found off-putting with her crazy on stage antics, so I never bothered to listen to her music. But I was pleasantly surprise how good her debut album 'Tidal' (1996) and her followup 'When the pawn...'* (1999) with great lyrics and a voice full of emotion. Appartenly, there is a third album recorded that was supposed to be release in May 2003, but it was shelved by her record label Sony Music. The album has been floating around online and fans are trying to get it released by starting an online petition to show Sony that there is a market for it. I will have to scour the Internet to see if I get a listen of it.

[* the full title is 'When The Pawn Hits The Conflicts He Thinks Like A King What He Knows Throws The Blows When He Goes To The Fight And He'll Win The Whole Thing 'Fore He Enters The Ring There's No Body To Batter When Your Mind Is Your Might So When You Go Solo, You Hold Your Own Hand And Remember That Depth Is The Greatest Of Heights And If You Know Where You Stand, Then You Know Where To Land And If You Fall It Won't Matter, Cuz You'll Know That You're Right.']

Team Player?

In the middle of my third week of the new job, I now have a better understanding of my colleagues behaviours. For better, or for worst (but mostly for the better). Everyone is great and it is a pleasure to work with them...except for one person. There is supposed to be a team of three, but to me there is a twosome -- and the 'other guy'.

The 'other guy' is a nice person, knows his stuff, but he seems to be distancing himself. We -- the twosome -- assume this is due to the "other guy's" perception that he is above us in the hierarchy of the company. This information has not been confirmed but, in the meantime, the twosome are doing all of the work while the 'other guy' works on a project of insignificance for days at a time. This didn't bother me until today when I asked why he was still working on that particular project. His response was, "there is nothing else to do, so this helps me kill time and keeps me out of trouble."

This response infuriated me because the twosome were deploying hundreds of VOIP phones, taking inventory of all the equipment, and setting up policies and precedures. But I said nothing, excused myself, and continued my work. The twosome has established a good repoire and see eye to eye on this issue. So when ask what was done when our supervisor returns we denote all of work we (the twosome) completed. We will not bash the other guy in anyway but just show the difference in workload.

The job before this, I worked alone. I was soley responsible for tasks that were not completed in a timely manner. But now, working with others in professional setting, should you really give credit to someone who doesn't deserve it?

Silk and Cookies

To make my Sunday evening of television viewing better, I decided to bake a batch of Crispy Chocolate Cookies. So while enjoying the Australian Open coverage on ESPN2, Arrested Development on FOX, and Desperate Housewives on ABC -- I had me a nice tall glass of Silk (sweetened, lactose free, plain soymilk) and bunch of cookies. Junk food just makes television so much better.

. . . and taxes

Today I got my W2 in the mail from my former employer and I decided to file my taxes early. Last year I filed with H & R Block for free because I am broke college student, and they cater to broke college students. Since they had the majority of information saved from last year, filing this year didn't take long.

My refund will a little bigger because I finally qualify for the Earned Income Credit. I was a bit jealous of my friends who were eligible last year because you have to be at least 25. Last year, I went crazy with my refund and bought stuff I didn't really need. . . except for my TiVo. I love my TiVo, and I will be lost with it. This year I decided to be responsible and use the money to lower the amount I owe on my car loan. This must be a sign that I am getting old. If I were younger I would probably take the money and buy the new Nintendo Dual Screen. But now, I have priorities. Sigh.

Movie shopping

I was driving from Walmart and I decided to go to Bestbuy to redeem the gift certificate that was given to me for Christmas. I bought "The Village" -- not that I like the movie but I have the other three films by the director, so I just want to complete the oveure. And I was browsing the bargain bin of DVDs to find something for around $6.00 to used up my entire gift certificate, and I saw the best, unintentionally funny movie, ever.

Glitter "starring" Mariah Carey is the most crap-tastic movie I have seen. The movie that previously held that title was Showgirls "starring" Elizabeth Berkley (from Saved by the Bell fame). Mariah tries so hard to be all actory and serious but the plot -- if there is one -- is severly lacking. It is so bad, but if feels so good just to laugh at it. If you haven't seen it, just rent it and then you will know what I am talking about.

My Office

Here is a look at the inside of the new building of my new employer. Instead of cubicles, everyone has workstations that are open and accessible to anyone. The CEO of the company thought that cubicles were too restrictived, so the new building does not have them OR private offices. I think it is a novel idea.


Here you can see my workstation. Every station has LCD panels but my computer is different than other employees because I am an IT guy. The computer has a DVD burner and some other goodies. My chair! It has 87 positions and I am still looking for my perfect position. I will have to take some time to adjust it and label so no one "accidently" takes it. Everyone will have the same chair, but mine will be the best. :)

My First Day

Today was they first day of my new job at Definity Health. I have been worried about working with new people for the past couple of weeks, but the first day went by smoothly.

The day starting with a mini-orientation with Human Resources to fill out the forms needed for new hires and to be briefed on what exactly DH does. Recently, they were aquired by United Health Group (and had three acquisitions within the last year) so DH is in the process of shifting their policies to comply with the AHG's. AHG is comprised of six subsidaries and DH belongs to the subsidary know as Uniprise. DH is primarily a call center for members and where claims are processed.

Today was dress down day and DH shirt day. The majority of the employees where wearing their purple DH shirt, which were not attractive. We (the new employees) were given a shirt to wear but we didn't have to wear it today if we chose not to. The shirt didn't match the ensemble that I picked out for the day -- so maybe next time. We got our new ID cards, toured the facilities, and sat around until lunch time because there wasn't much for use to do today. The supervisor bought the new guys lunch and then from there we headed to the new office building for DH. The new building is still in development but it looks really nice. [I will post some pictures of the new office here before the other employees arrive so I don't violate their privacy...or HIPAA. Unfornately, I no longer have an office like my old job, but we have an IT section of cubicle-esque space which is very nice. We each have our own brand new Dell computers with 17 inch LCD montitors that are attached to this pivoting hinge. The best part of the "office" is the very comfortable chairs with 87 possible adjustments. I don't know how much sitting we will be doing, but it will be nice to sit in a good chair once and a while at work.

The day went well and the 8 hours just flew by. My co-workers are really nice, and I am the only single guy in the bunch. I observed that the women out number men at least 10:1, so the guys think that's a good plus for me considering my status. But only if they knew. So I am looking forward to going to work tomorrow. We have a formal orientation followed by lunch with our manager from the corporate headquarters, her treat. I love free food.

Lack of Tolerance - Part 1

I am starting to think that I am lactose intolerant. Yesterday after a bowl of cereal with a probably a half serving of milk I started having cramps and pains in my abdomen. I had no dairy today and I am doing fine. I don't drink milk very often and I constantly pour out gallon containers of expired milk. My dad is lactose intolerant so my heredity might be the cause.

So I have decided to cut out cow's milk from my diet and switch to soy milk. I will try soy milk for a couple of weeks and see if I experience the same symptoms. I think I might cut cheese out of my diet as well, but I love my provolone cheese. I will start with the soy first then take the next step.

The results of this test will given in a future post.

New Year -- New Outlook.

For me, the word for 2005 is "new." I have a new job, newly single and beginning a new chapter in my life. 2004 was not a bad year, but the beginning started with a death in the family and ended with a breakup. Eventhough 2004 had events that were less than desireable I am optimistic that 2005 will start and end well.

Now I shall present my list of New Year's resolutions. I hope by posting these it will help me keep them...so, here is the list:

1. Go to the gym more consistantly. Since I started graduate school in August 2003, I haven't had a steady routine. I used to go at least 4 times a week, but now I barely go once a week. Instead of the obligatory weight loss resolution this will be more conducive to a healtier lifestyle.
   
2. Complete my A+ Certification. With this certification I will hopefully receive a raise in my salary. The exam cost $500 ($250 per section) so I am hoping that my employer will cover the cost.
3. Be more honest. More on that in future posts.
4. Enter at least one amateur tennis tournament. I have been playing for a couple of years just for fun but this past summer I began to take the game more seriously. I plan on getting better by practicing and playing with those who are better than myself.

Hopefully all the resolutions listed will be accomplished by the end of the year. If not...they will be placed on the list of 2006 New Year's resolutions.