Creative Labs, Electrical Devices, T.C.

In my last entry, I wrote about Creative Labs, then someone named T.C. commented that I'm unhappy with any electrical device I've owned, but that is not the case. I've been very happy with all of my electrical devices, I'll even research the hell out of it before making a purchase to make sure it will fit my needs, have the features I want and support my budget. All of the Creative Labs products I've owned and currently own, I've been very happy with. However when making purchases directly from Creative Labs, their sales support is truly terrible. Any other company, the response would be quick, usually within an hour. Not Creative, it takes them 1 whole day which is unacceptable, especially when dealing with shipping.

It wasn't just this recent issue, there have been at least 2 previous issues with notification and shipping. I recently sent my Vision: W in for repairs. No status updates or notification that it had been shipped back to me or what was repaired. Just silence for over a week then it shows up on my doorstep, literally, just placed there by the shipper. What if I had been away for a week or two? I wouldn't have known my device was shipped back to me, someone could've walked off with it...

In January of 2005, I had ordered a set of earphones directly from them, which showed it was in stock. After checking back the next day, my order showed that the earphones were out of stock and still got charged for the purchase. After having to call them a couple of days later to find out why, somehow they were able to find a set and send them. In 2002, I had order a power adapter for a Nomad mp3 player and was sent a carrying case for a different mp3 player.

I have owned, in the past, a SoundBlaster 16, SoundBlaster 32, SoundBlaster 64, a SoundBlaster Audigy, the Audigy 2, the Cambridge SoundWorks DTT 2500 5.1 Speakers, a Creative MuVo Tx, a Creative Nomad, the Zen Micro, Zen Travel Dock and Sub-Woofer and recently the Zen Vision: W 60 gig and the Zen Stone. For the office I have a set of 2.1 speakers, the SBS 380 and soon the Cambridge SoundWorks Radio 730. I would have gotten the 735 but it only supports the iPod, if it supported the Vision: W, I would've gotten that.

A year ago, I was having issues with the headphone jack on the Zen Micro, I had sent it in once before while it was under warranty and got it back repaired. Then, several months ago, I was having the same issue with the headphone jack, it was out of warranty, I knew that, I would've been willing to pay them to repair the headset jack cause I was going to give it away to a friend, it works fine, just when you use a headphone, only one side will work at random. Did creative response? NO, nada, nothing, so screw that, I fixed it myself, I didn't want to, but I did it so that I could give it to a friend.

So, when I buy electrical devices, I usually name brands, this way, I know the quality of the device is what I'm also paying for. My expectations are higher because of that. If I buy a 2nd rate name brand, I don't expect much of it, I get what I pay for. I've expected Creative Labs to have higher standards of quality, higher standards of service and willing to please the customer so that they'll be loyal customers and willing to promote Creative Labs through word of Mouth.

Creative Labs should advertise themselves more to the American public for product recognition, most people, you ask about mp3 players, they'll say an 'iPod", when you mention Creative Labs, they'll say "Huh?, what's/who's that?" Stores here do more to promote the Apple product than they do for Creative Labs, if they do carry them at all. They need to stop thinking like their the only thing in town, listen to their customers more and think like their in second place all the time cause right now, it seems like their in 5th place.

To T.C., it may seem like I'm never happy about the electrical devices I have, but is in fact, never satisfied with the ones that I purchased, mostly because by the time I can get the latest gadget, there is something new coming or already out. At the time, I may have underestimated my personal requirements. Another reason may have been because at the time, the device that I've complained about may have done exactly what I wanted but a new version of the device may have been released that may have improved features, like for example, my digital camera.

At the time, it was very good for what I was doing, but even with research, as I used it more, I found the performance didn't perform as I needed it to.

つづく ( To be continued... )

Anything Gummy, Creative Labs and the Constructions almost done...

My name is Tekbandit (hi, tekbandit) and I'm a gummy-holic.

Once I get my hands on a bag of gummies, doesn't matter what kind of gummies, I'll eat them non-stop till it's gone, usually in about 3-4 hours. With Halloween coming up, the bags of gummies are huge, which makes for a lot of gummies to consume.

Ok, so now I've ordered my radio directly from Creative Labs... on Friday morning so that it would make the shipment that afternoon. Most, if not all companies, even the smaller companies, if you place an order before 12 (depending on which time zone), your order makes it for the afternoon pickup. Not Creative, it takes approximately 24 hours for your credit card to be confirmed. I order from newegg and my card gets charged within a minute of clicking on submit.

Now the weekend passes and it's Monday. I check with Creative Labs to see if my order shipped. I check almost every hour and still hasn't shipped. I emailed their sales support at least 3 times asking about my order. With Newegg, I get a response within the half hour of emailing them.

Now, I'm a really big fan of Creative Lab products, but after this lack of response and support, I'm looking at different products for sound and audio devices/cards. It was after 11 CDT that I had seen it was shipped at 9 PM PDT and I still didn't get a response from their sales support. The next day, after I already knew it was shipped, I get an email that it was shipped... WTF!!!!

Well, my purchase is on it's way, this is the 2nd or 3rd time this has happened. Creative Labs has the potential for being a great company but with the service the way it is, their really putting themselves out of business.

The ceiling in my room is finally up, all that it needs now is to mud and paint. One other thing is that he's planning on covering the load bearing beam with sheet rock, instead of screws, he's planing on using liquid nails (basically glue it up). The main thing is that it's now warmer, quieter and a little more brighter.

つづく ( To be continued... )

Under Construction...

Well, my room/apartment/house (part of it) is under construction. My friend who owns the house is putting up the ceiling. It started out funny cause we started the day at Menards, picking up supplies for putting in the ceiling. I wanted the ceiling to be sound proof (or at least dampened) so he ended up picking up some sound damping insulation. After we get back and drop off the supplies, he took off to pick up the dry wall jack to hold it up while he secures it to the ceiling...

Just as we start, I asked, "what about the lights and the cooling/heating ducts?" cause he only was supposed to have it for about 4 hours. He then realized... "Damn, I completely forgot" so he ended up calling the rental place back and putting in for a 24 hour rental. We started at about 11 and as of right now, we've got 2 panels up and still got about 20 percent more insulation to put up. At about 6, he realized that the ceiling duct was not the right one, so we ended up going back again to Menards and picked up the right one... at that point, I was just too tired to laugh, so we'll pick it up again at 7 the next day...

Since he had to turn off the electricity to take down the lights, only the electrical outlets work at this time so at least I have my computer and a lamp... I should take some pictures... it's funny in a tired sort of way...

つづく ( To be continued... )

In addition....

Showing the softer side of me...

From icanhascheezburger.com



and from cuteoverload.com



Just had to share these with everyone...

つづく ( To be continued... )

Happy, Happy, Joy, Joy!!!!

I'm happy when I'm upgrading my computer... I have 2 DVD burners in today. One is a Lightscribe DVD burner and the other is a Super Multi DVD Burner. Both have black bezels so it'll match the case. In a way, I'll be sad to see my NEC DVD burner go, it's been really good to me and hopefully the new ones will be able to give me the same, if not better performance than the NEC.

With October in full swing, so has the Office candy project. So far, these past 2 years, I've brought in Halloween candy for everyone to take for the whole month of October. I found that having candy is better than trying to stuff turkey into a container, also it lasts longer.

Next week, I'm planning on getting a new clock/radio. Theres this one from Creative Labs, produced by Cambridge Soundsworks. It's called the Soundworks Radio 730. Cambridge Soundworks has a newer model, the Soundworks Radio 735I, but it's geared towards the iPod owners. What really got me interested in the 730 (and the other models have the same feature) is the RDS feature. RDS displays the station ID, song and artist that is currently playing. The other feature I like about it is that it has a sub-woofer built into it.

Another Item I want to get is a Dymo Rhino labeler. I was looking at getting the Rhino 6000 Hardcase kit which includes the data cable and software with a nice case to carry it in. It's made for labeling router racks and other areas for computer networking and also has a shrink wrap tubing cartridge for making labels out of shrink wrap tubing. Although I just may settle for the Rhino 6000 without the hardcase kit and just get the data cable and software separate. Although they have a price listed on their site, I'm sure I can find an online retailer that would have it for less than if I were to purchase it directly from Dymo.

For some reason, I feel like the Tim Taylor of the computer world... it's computing power and computer tools... .

つづく ( To be continued... )

Finally got the pictures up of the new computer case

I've finally got everything tweaked and setup. I'm taking a break for now, but I'll eventually start cleaning up the cables in the case. Just to make it easier to get inside and not have to fight the clutter of all those cables. I'm also planning on upgrading the speakers again. I want to go from a 5.1 to a 7.1 surround speaker system. Also looking to upgrade the DVD writer drives. Currently I have 2 beige drives, ones a writer, the other one is just a reader. I was thinking of getting both writers, one of the drives I've been looking at is a lightscribe drive and the other is a Super Multi drive.

To see what the new case looks like, click here.

つづく ( To be continued... )

IT'S ALIVE, ALIVE!!!!!

Eventually I'll have pictures, but I've gotten a new Full tower case with a new sound card. The parts arrived this past Wednesday and with this cold I'm trying to get rid of, the transplant was slow but deliberate. I took my time moving things over from the old case and now it's just a matter of making things look a lot nicer and hook up and re-adjust some of the cables... basically tweaking things.

Once that's done, it's clean up the workspace... with all the shipping boxes and tools, my living area looks like a Mad Scientist's laboratory.... MUHAHAHAHAHAHAHA... *ahem* I digress slightly... I think I have my Halloween costume...


つづく ( To be continued... )

Home is not always where your hat lies...

I dreamed that I was back home. Not as in where I'm living now, but back to the place where I was born, my hometown, my birthplace. I was pretty happy that I was back home, but then after of visiting a couple of places, things started to change and what was a pleasant dream, started to turn into a nightmare.

For some reason these past couple of weeks I've been having nightmares. I don't remember the details of most of them. I remember the most recent one, but it fades from my memory.

つづく ( To be continued... )

Welcome to the Computer Upgrade club...

First rule of the computer upgrade club: Make sure your fully awake.

Second rule of the computer upgrade club: Make sure you have lots of time.

Third rule of the computer upgrade club: Make sure your fully awake.

I upgraded my computer... "Again" and this time, added more memory for a total of 2 gig from 1 gig. Added 2 more hard drives, this time Hitachi Deskstar SATA drives, one 250 and the other 320 gigs and also upgraded the power supply from a 450 watt power supply to a Hiper 730 watt power supply.

After opening up the case, I realized that I don't have enough space for the additional hard drives, so for now, in keeping with the geek tradition of computer upgrades, the side and top are off of the case, the hard drives are just sitting in the case... I'm currently looking at 2 different cases to upgrade to, one being the Cooler Master Cosmos 1000 (RC-1000) or the Gigabyte 3D Aurora, both are still full towers like my current one. I'm kind of leaning towards the Cooler Master PC Case.

Once I got everything installed, I installed Ghost 12.0 that I had also purchased for this upgrade so that my Operating system settings and configurations would remain the same. I was able to image the new drive but had some difficulties with the drive order. It took me about 2 days to resolve that and it's a good thing that Ghost 12.0 had created a backup cause I ended up having to restore that backup in order to get Windows up and running again.

At this time, everything is set the way I wanted it to.

Update: I got my Zen Vision: W back some time ago, instead of repairing the LCD (as they claimed it was the cause of the issue) they sent me a new one as a replacement. No complaints there. There are little things that appears to have changed as far as the hardware revisions, cause there are certain videos that I used to play that can't anymore and it seems that after re-converting the videos, no matter which format I have them as, the video is out of synch with the audio.

つづく ( To be continued... )

My Zen Vision: W is sick...

Little over a week ago, my Zen Vision: W stopped working. I didn't hear the internal hard drive spin up, at times will trying to get to the recovery mode screen, it would just do nothing and the screen will eventually just fill with lines till it was all one color. After a while, it would just show Hardware Problem. That was it.

I emailed Creative Labs tech support and after a couple of replies, they said to send it in and gave me a link to setup a RMA. However it was going to cost twenty five dollars, I would pay for shipping on top of that to them. I finally got to send it out today and it ended up costing almost twenty dollars with the packaging and mailing cost. While they were replying, they kept trying to sell me stuff, What the Hell kind of tech support is that? Is Creative that hard up for sales? If that's the case, then maybe they should provide better support, quality products and aggressively advertise their products to make people aware.

Look at Apple, they aggressively advertise every new product that they put out, why can't Creative Labs? There are a lot of people that don't know that they make certain products. Some people think that they only make sound cards. Also if Creative listened to what the consumers suggest to improve their products, I believe they could dominate the field, as it is, a lot of people are switching to other products.

This past weekend, I think Samantha was mad at me for something. I went out for a while to pick up a couple of things and got back and found my bamboo plant knocked off the desk from the top of the hutch. I got it cleaned up and moved to a cup till I could get a new container for it. I found a really nice one from Bachman's and some gravel for the pot.

つづく ( To be continued... )

If never fails to amaze me...

A big barricade blocking the sidewalk with the sign "Sidewalk Closed" at the corner of the sidewalk and about 50 to 75 feet further, another barricade with another sign, "Sidewalk Closed" with a chain link fence blocking the sidewalk out to the street, leaving enough room width for a vehicle.

Typical people, seeing only what they want to see or selective ignorance keep walking on the sidewalk, then going around the fence and walk on the road just to get to the next corner, interfering with vehicle traffic, vehicles having to move over to the next lane to avoid driving close or running over them. Even if they move the fence further out, people still insist on walking around the closed sidewalk.

Also people crossing in the middle of the street with a crosswalk only 20 to 15 feet away... How stupid can these people be? I say, run them over, if they try to sue, they have no grounds for a law suite. If they need a witness, I would do it.

つづく ( To be continued... )

Evac complete, move to forward firebase in progress

As I mentioned before, I hate moving, it's like being in the military and having to bug out of a base. The part that I really hate about it is that, you can plan on how long it's going to take, but it never goes according to your time table. What was planned as a 4 hour move took approximately 20 hours to complete.

I started the move at about 2 in the afternoon yesterday and was still moving at 4 this morning. It didn't help that the humidity was so high or that the prespitation was just streaming down my face. Even with help it was a difficult move, however my friend had to leave just after midnight cause he had to get up for work the that morning at about 4, so from that point on, I was moving all by myself.

At the same time, I was cleaning the apartment so that I could get most of my deposit back, but after a certain time, I wasn't giving a damn. I cleaned most of the major areas, but the little things, I'll be paying for. I also gave up a small octogon dining table with 4 chairs and 2 lamps cause I didn't want to take anything more with me.

Right now, my lower back and arms are in a bit of pain from all the carrying stuff.

I am happy though, I'm finally out of that place and living in a way better place, quiet, clean and just better. Samantha wasn't too happy during her move, although now she seems to be a lot happier cause of all the Windows she gets to choose from to sit and watch the world outside.

つづく ( To be continued... )

I hate moving

Moving can be so stressful. Gotta figure out what needs to be packed up first, how to pack it, is there enough boxes to pack...

Just when you think your close to having everything packed, it turns out there is still more stuff left, also you tend to find a lot of stuff that you've collected over the years at one place that should have been thrown away...

I'm just hoping that I can get everything moved in time, I don't want to be in this place any longer than I had expected to leave.

つづく ( To be continued... )

A self created quote

A man who gives away knowledge freely is a fool that is quickly forgotten.

Ideas should be kept like a well guarded secret and never given away for there are those who
are unscrupulous enough to make it their own.

It is sad to know that when I go, only I will know what knowledge I had and that no other will person will be imparted with that knowledge.

The need of the one in these times always out weigh the need of the many.

つづく ( To be continued... )

and My American accent (dialict) is...

What American accent do you have? (Best version so far) Midland ("Midland" is not necessarily the same thing as "Midwest") The default, lowest-common-denominator American accent that newscasters try to imitate. Since it's a neutral accent, just because you have a Midland accent doesn't mean you're from the Midland.

Click Here to Take This Quiz Brought to you by YouThink.com quizzes and personality tests.

つづく ( To be continued... )

A most interesting weekend...

It started off when I got off of work on Friday. I walked over to Orchestra Hall Plaza to see what kind of music was playing in their summer concert series called Alive after 5. The group there was playing bluegrass music, not really the kind of music I listen to but I don't hate it.

I bought a cup of beer and some butterfly shrimp and enjoy the atmosphere. I had a good buzz going and walked to the bus depot to catch my bus home. The last stop before leaving downtown a couple gets on the bus, he looks like a geek, she looks like a party girl and I notice that she has a similar bus pass that I use which is sponsored by my employer (I pay about 30 a month for an unlimited bus pass that also gets me on the train). At first glance, it looks as shes really in love with him and so I end up falling asleep for most of the trip.

Well I wake up at one point and noticed that the guy she boarded the bus with is nowhere to be seen (apparently he moved to a seat across from here and blocked by another rider) and it seems that a lot of people had moved away from her. It turns out while I was sleeping, she threw up on the bus and the second time she threw up, someone provided her with a plastic bag. At one point she loudly states "at least now I can hold my head up... Heyyyy..."

I guess the guy at first thought he was going to get lucky but after that, it looked as if he didn't want to have anything to do with her. After getting off the bus at her stop, the both of them, he went in one direction to his vehicle and she seemed to be lost but walking in the general direction of her vehicle. The guy was already in his vehicle and driving off... she was still slowly walking towards hers, carrying that bag... I felt sorry for her.

The driver eventually stopped off at a quicky mart store with the assistance of another rider and picked up a gallon of water and some paper towels, emptying the jug in order to get that stuff out of the bus and mopping up the rest with the paper towels.

Saturday I ended up sleeping the whole day away and on Sunday, ended up driving to the Northtown mall to catch the bus to go into work so that I could submit my time card that I forgot to do on Friday.

Once I got that done, I decided to walk around downtown and ended up spending some time in Gameworks and checked out a couple of games there. One game I really got a kick out of was a thing called Cycraft that had Initial D installed on it. I got my butt kicked on House of the Dead 4, did pretty well at Outrun 3, had fun with Ghost squad and did pretty badly at Need for Speed, there was also After burner ground strike and and other After burner game which I can't remember the name.

After spending an hour or more there, I walked to St. Anthony and was hoping to get to take pictures from a spot that would've been perfect, but was closed. I did get some other shots that were pretty good.

If you should get a chance, try the Strawberry lemon aid frappacino from Starbucks. It's really great for warm weather consumption and also the Frosty float from Wendy's.

つづく ( To be continued... )

Have you ever...

Have you ever woke either laughing or crying after a dream? Well, last night (or should I say early this morning), I woke up laughing because of a dream I had. I dreamed that I was trying to clean a bathtub and it was either backed up or someone had fouled up the tub and I was trying to clean it up. Someone that I knew was there and they were using the tub to brush their teeth.

I told them not to do it because it was fouled up but they said it was ok cause the toothpaste they were using would protect them. So while I was trying to clean the tub, Samantha was walking along the edge of the tub while a Siamese cat was trying to threaten me by showing it's claws, it's ears laying down.

The thing that made me laugh was the way the Siamese cat looked, when I woke up, I was laughing... Then about 5 minutes after that, my alarm went off, but I was already awake. Samantha was sleeping on the bean bag and just looked up at me like I was crazy.

So then, that was the way my day started off...

Last night I was looking for the song playing in the teaser for McNamara/Troy: Hollywood, after about an hour, I found out who the artist was, Giant Drag, playing a cover of Chris Issack's Wicked Game. I was also trying to find the song playing at the end of the Season finale of Battlestar Galactica, but right now the only version that is available was recorded directly from the TV.

So I'll keep looking...

つづく ( To be continued... )

Jury Duty

Jury duty here is really, really stupid. In Hawaii, you get notified and you show up, from there they determine if you serve or not, here, for 2 weeks, you have to call in every day. Why can't they just have a date set that you go in, they interview you and if they need you, you serve your jury duty or if they don't, then that's it.

One thing I am glad about... I'll be moving out of my apartment and into a better place. I can't take it anymore with all the dumb things going on. People just not caring about other people or the place they are living in. No respect at all. There are people there that are trashing the area, selling drugs, not taking responsibility for their guests.

つづく ( To be continued... )

You know if your a computer geek when...

You take a tour of a Mainframe data farm and you get all giddy with excitement.

You have a poster of the latest Server adorning your bedroom wall.

You have a picture frame on your desk of your home computer instead of your significant other.

You prefer to buy new computer hardware, forsaking food and clothing.

You know your a computer geek when your computer is worth a lot more than your car.

Resuming our regular programming... I finally got my new monitor, it's up and running, if your interested in seeing what it looks like, you can see it on my flickr account. I've been thinking about practicing my art again, it's been a long time and I can say that it has come in handy in the past, now it's just of the matter of finding a place to practice and acquiring the weapons to practice with or the practice gear.

Just now counting down the days / hours till I leave for my vacation. I am really looking forward to clearing my mind of all these past couple of years that I've gone through.

つづく ( To be continued... )

2 days short and 5 away...

I am looking forward to my trip, sitting in my parents backyard, watching the quails, jack rabbits and prairie dogs go by. No loud noises, no stupid neighbors, no idiots with loud trucks at 06:45... If my brothers want to go drinking, since I won't be driving, I'll have a couple, just to get a good buzz going, nothing more. I'm wondering what Samantha will be thinking for the 5 days I'll be away. I'll make sure my friend and his son goes to check up on her, I'm sure she'll be slightly distressed.

The 22" monitor has arrived and I'll be going to pick it up after work and you know your getting old when you have a hard time seeing things on the screen with a 17" monitor. Of course with the larger monitor I'll be able to watch movies a lot better from the couch than having to sit so close to the computer.

With my music playing after hours here at work, I have the sub going, everyone who hears it and passes by thinks that the small portable travel speakers I have sitting on my desk, has really good sound, until I point out the portable sub under the desk... usually I'm tempted to just not point out the sub, but then again... I want to get a travel dock for the Zen Vision W, but Creative Labs hasn't designed one yet, so until then...

Last week, I got hooked on Mini Charleston Chews that I purchased at a store in downtown Minneapolis, I'm currently working on my second box of these darn things... The other candy I'm hooked on is the Sponge Bob Krabby Patties, it's the gummi type and tastes really good. When it comes to sweets, I can be pretty bad, to the point that since I was little, it has done a number on some of my teeth.

つづく ( To be continued... )

Forgive me father, but it's been almost a month since...

I guess it's been a while since I last made an entry, although it's been a busy month, Digital Cable, Command and Conquer 3, cleaning up the apartment (and clean I did!). I found things that I haven't seen for a while and also reclaimed a lot of space, throwing out old law enforcement magazines. I'm hoping to move out of there and rent the basement of my friends house, which is in a lot better neighborhood and a lot quieter.

Also, I've been converting movies so that it'll transfer and play on my new media player. Last week I got a silicone skin for it and also a SD Card adapter so that I can transfer pictures from my camera (which I haven't been taking much lately) without having to wait till I get home and move them over to my computer, to the media player. I'm also looking forward to a new monitor, my friend offered to pay for it now and I pay him back later. I'll be getting a Sceptre 22" LCD DVI/VGA Monitor with a 2 ms response time from newegg.com. The current sale price is $248.00.

Next week I'll be gone, but will be back after that. Going to Colorado for a couple of days, I really need to get out of Minnesota for a little while. At least all my past issues are no longer current issues and thats less stress that I needed. I'm still debating on writing what they were, but for now, it's mine and mine alone.

つづく ( To be continued... )

Spring Cleaning

Spring is finally here and for some reason I got the cleaning bug. After of just piling my junk mail on the kitchen table, kitchen counter, living room shelves, on the floor and other places, I ended up sorting out what I needed to keep and dumped the stuff I should've thrown away. Part of the clean up is also a pre-cursor to packing it up and moving out of this place. A friend offered to rent out the downstairs part of his house.

His house is located in a quiet neighborhood with decent people and families living there. Now if he would only finish that part and if he's reading this, GIT 'R DUN!!! I'm just tired of putting up with all these inconsiderate unintelligent jackasses, with their loud parties till 4 or 5 in the morning, friends with their loud vehicles, gunning their engines, playing their music loud, washing laundry after 10 pm, slamming doors, disabling the security doors, throwing trash all over the place and even being lazy to the point of just dumping their garbage in the yard next door.

These are not people, they are animals, plain and simple. I moved out of downtown Minneapolis several years ago to get away from this kind of dumb sh*t, but it seems to have moved with me... I'm about to go to war with these people, I do have a full can of Freeze +P and am willing to use it all. I can get more and if possible, get the party version.

つづく ( To be continued... )

New mp3 (Portable Media) Player!

It's been a while, but Ihave been busy with work, lately it seems that after getting done with work, I just don't want to do anything or be with anyone... any way...

I recently got a new Portable Media player, a Creative Labs Zen Vision: W. It has a 60 gig drive, holds pictures, plays full length movies and a whole lot of music. Right now there isn't a lot of accessories available for it but I'll keep watching their site to see when it becomes available. I want to get a Compact Flash Adapter so that I can transfer my pictures from my camera to the Vision and also I'm waiting for either the leather case or a hard case instead of that cloth pouch that comes with it...

This past Friday, I went to see a movie with a friend, saw the movie Hills have Eyes 2 and I have to admit that I wasn't impressed with the movie, it's ok, a little bit of flesh (both ways, if you know what I mean), lots of blood and thats pretty much about it. What I really want to see and can't wait for is The Transformers Movie that is coming in July and Spiderman 3.

On the upcoming Friday, I'll be picking up Command and Conquer 3: Tiberium Wars, i've been playing the demo and am really impressed on the improvements that have been made since the first couple. It's a lot faster, both in play and loading and the graphics are very good. Don't get me wrong, I still play Battlefield 2 and Battlefield 2: Special Forces, but I really enjoy a really good strategy, top down game. So if your ever online, look up tekbandit66.

つづく ( To be continued... )

Creative Labs and the Zen Micro mp3 player

On the 19th of this month, I attempted to contact Creative Lab's Technical support to fix a known issue with the Zen Micro and the Headset Jack. The headset jack is known to come loose from one of the solder points when the headset is accidentally yanked out from the plug. Well, the first time, I was able to RMA the Zen Micro This time, I knew that the Zen Micro is out of Warranty and I was willing to pay for repairs.

Well, I get an automated response to check the knowledge base, however upgrading the drivers or firmware will not fix the headset jack problem due to poor workmanship. I give them about a day or two to reply after responding to the automated email that non of the suggested resolutions are related to the headset jack on the 19th.

On the 21st, I still didn't hear anything from them and sent a follow up email inquiring if anyone is monitoring the emails coming in? Still no response, then finally on the 23, today, I sent this:

There was a time that I regarded CLI's customer
support really good, however recently it appears that
this is not correct.  No reply since my issue was
first mentioned and no replies to any of my replies to
the initial email that was automatically generated.

I was not looking to get the headset jack on the Zen
Micro fixed for free, but I was willing to pay for the
repair which is no longer needed.

I have been a creative labs customer since the late
80's and have continued to purchase creative labs
products without any issues, until now.

I would also like to mention that experience with
purchasing products within the past 2 years directly
from Creative Labs have been rather poor.  I get the
feeling that Creative Labs Attitude is "So what if you
have bought our stuff, go away and don't bother us."

At this time, I'm not really upset, but somewhat
frustrated because of the lack of response.  I hope
that this can be improved, I feel that Creative Labs
has the potential to come out on top and feel that you
have the best sound products out there.

Still no response...

I have since purchased another mp3 player, but not because of the headset jack, but because the new one (another Creative product) the Vision W in a 60 gig model. I wanted to get the headset jack issue repaired because I was giving away my Zen Micro to a friend and didn't want her to have to go through the trouble of the sound cutting out when the jack is moved...

If this is the way a company treats it's customers by ignoring them, then I think it's time to reconsider in future purchases of that company's products. I was pretty forgiving when I had made purchases directly from them and they got my order completely wrong, but I don't think I'll be as forgiving the next time, if there is a next time, which may not happen.

つづく ( To be continued... )

If I were to meet and date a Female Superhero, I guess it would be her...

つづく ( To be continued... )

New Stuff!

This past weekend, spent too much money, upgraded my cell phone and re-upped my contract for my phone. I picked up a new Microphone, Mic stand and Headsets for my podcast. Other than that, it was a great weekend. I'll also be looking forward to the middle of the month, I'll be upgrading my cable service to digital cable.

With the digital cable, I'll be able to watch programs from Japan (mostly Japan) but they also cover China, Korea and India. The AZN Television station has some really interesting looking programs, so I can't wait till it arrives. As for the Cell Phone, I upgraded from a Black Razor V3 to a V3xx, which doubles as a mp3 player and also has G3, which is what Japan currently everyone there has. The Mic, I recently got was a Audio-Technica dynamic mic with a stand and Pop filter to get a cleaner sound. I also picked up an AKG K 240 Studio quality headphones. I really like the AKG headphones, but am really impressed with the K 240's, I get a richer bass and the sound quality is crystal clear.

With the audio upgrade, I'm currently on working on this months podcast, which should be up by the middle of this month. It seems that I'm averaging about 20 hits a day. If those numbers increase, I'm considering on doing a live show, but that's later...

つづく ( To be continued... )

My Games Fever

My Games Fever
Originally uploaded by TekBandit66.

I guess people really do win... I called in on January 1st and answered the question correctly, it was a picture of the word hot and a picture of a Daschund, so the answer was HotDog.

The host at the time told me to hold on and an operator will take down my information. I was then told that I would have to fill out some forms before the money would be sent. I figured "Eh, if it comes, it comes, if not, then no big thing" this way I wouldn't be disappointed if it turned out to be a fake.

Well, about a week later, I get a note from FedEx saying that a package was supposed to be delivered but because I wasn't home to sign for it, another attempt would be made on Monday the following week. So I made arrangements to go down and pick it up at the FedEx pickup location. Well, it turned out to be just a shirt...

On the same day (Friday), a letter had arrived for me to notarize and send back, the release form. Well, did that on Monday and sent it in that day, that was on the 8th. I didn't hear back from then and pretty much gave up. Until Yesterday. I got the check!! $300.00!! Woo Hoo!! So, now it'll go into my account and sit there until next payday so that next Friday I can pick up a new mp3 player by Creative Labs, the Zen Vision: W in a 30 gig size. Right now I have a Zen Micro, but the headset plug is going, when add slight pressure in a certain way, the sound cuts out and I've had it for a couple of years now, so it's time to upgrade...

In the meantime, I have my DS and due to a co-worker getting me into New Super Mario Bros. I've been playing that quite often.

つづく ( To be continued... )

The Vicious Bed Bunnies and Evil Shoelace Snakes...

Samantha is my apartment guardian, protecting at night before falling asleep from the vicious bed bunnies that run rampant on the bed, under my sheets. She'll see them moving either towards or away from me and pounce on them before they can do whatever harm that they do. Once she catches them, she'll rapid kick and bite them trying to make sure that they don't return later at night when I am deep in sleep.

Samantha will also make sure that after a night of vicious bed bunny attacks that may have kept me awake during the night, she'll wake me up with the alarm clock so that I can get ready for work. Then as a safety precaution, she'll keep a lookout in the bathroom while I take a shower and makes sure that I shave and brush my teeth correctly. However, she hates it when I put my socks on cause she'll block my feet from putting on the socks or just that she feels that she should be petted for the good job she's done so far and to get her attention in before I leave the apartment.

As I'm putting on my shoes, she'll attack and tries to eat the Evil Shoelace Snakes, mostly because they wrap them selves around my ankle (or at least the around the top of my boots) and hide under the cuffs of my pants until I get home.

Later tonight, I'll have pictures of my pepper plants that I had planted seeds only last week and are now sprouting. I was surprised on how fast they were growing. I had seeds from a chili plant and a harbenaro plant. I had the peppers drying for a while and finally the original harbenaro plant passed away. I decided to start again from seed instead of from a plant. Well over the weekend, the sprouts started to show and I was pretty surprised considering I had just planted them last week.

Also, I hope to get pictures of the last remaining lights from the holidays, last night I had seen some that would make for interesting shots but didn't have my tripod with me.

つづく ( To be continued... )

My Games Fever

I'm not sure how many states are able to watch this program, but yesterday, I was just relaxing at home, getting over my self induced brain fog and was channel surfing. Earlier that day (real early in the morning) I had just completed and uploaded my Premiere podcast and was just seeing what was on and came across the show My Games Fever. It caught my attention with the current challenge that was on with a fairly good looking woman hosting the game and had guessed what the answer was when I decided to give it a try.

By the time I had called in, I had missed my chance at winning $3,000.00 and figured I'd just give up and see what else was on. I was watching Mike Rowe's Dirty Jobs when I got a call back from the show. It was a $300.00 question, the host asked for my name and location and I gave it, then he asked for the answer, which was hotdog. They turned me over to the operator, they got my information and informed me that I would have to fill out some paper work and also a t-shirt.

What a way to start the new year! I'm going to see if my luck continues... if it does, you'll read about it here.

つづく ( To be continued... )

Happy New Year / Omedeto Gozaimasu!

Here goes another year, yet to be seen how it goes. I've finally completed my Premiere Podcast and it is a bit large. I'm still looking for a different host... well, actually I do have one, but I'm still trying to figure out how to use it. Eventually the links will change once I have it or give it a try, it's used by a lot of people and its free. Click or right click here to listen or download the file.

I'll add the lists and information that I used in my podcast for those who want to read it. Mostly it'll be in romanji for those that don't or unable to read Kana. I also hope to upgrade my microphone for voice quality purposes.

Well, for those who didn't know, I used to work for a Japanese format radio station. I just may have to locate those pictures and put them on my flickr account. For the longest time, I've been trying to avoid having pictures of myself on here, but I suppose, since I do have a website, I might as well put my pictures there as well...

つづく ( To be continued... )

My Podcast Pilot

I've finally started my podcast. With the pilot now available by clicking Pilot Podcast either by right clicking and select "save as..." or by clicking on the link and listening online. This will give everyone that listens to it a taste of things to come. It's been a while so I'm a little rusty, not to mention working with new technology compared to what I used to work with... it'll be a short time to get better for everyones listening enjoyment.

Hopefully in the future, I'll find a better hosting site for these podcasts which for now, will be released on a monthly basis.

つづく ( To be continued... )

I am Cleric TekBandit

I've watched this movie that was released in 2002 and stars Christian Bale called Equilibrium, the synopsis of the movie is set in the future, in an attempt to end wars and maintain peace, humankind has outlawed the things that trigger emotion -- literature, music, and art. To uphold the law, a special breed of police is assigned to eliminate all transgressors, known as Clerics. They control emotions with drugs which suppresses all human emotions, any items that could invoke emotions are illegal.

Two issues in the movie that I found interesting, quite possible (maybe only in theory) and how could I apply it to my everyday life. One was the removal of emotion. Imagine how much more efficient a person could be, espcially in certain careers. One of those careers that come to mind would be law enforcement. Another would be the military and yet one other would be in computers.

I guess to a certain degree, I do have a lack of emotion. This keeps people guessing as to what I'm thinking, to some, somewhat uncertain of me. I guess this is why a really good friend and mentor to me once called me the Ice Man (although I prefer SubZero). However, because I am human (some people may think otherwise...) I do, at times exhibit emotions.

The other issue which is related to the first is the so called Gun Kata. I've been practicing martial arts for quite sometime now. If there were really such a thing as Gun Kata, I would be really interested in learning the technique. In order to be truly effective and proficient at it, a total removal of emotions is necessary.

The Gun Katas. through analysis of thousands of recorded gunfights, the Cleric has determined that the geometric distribution of antagonists in any gun battle is a statistically predictable element.
The Gun Kata treats the gun as a total weapon, each fluid position representing a maximum kill zone, inflicting maximum damage on the maximum number of opponents while keeping the defender clear of the statistically traditional trajectories of return fire.

つづく ( To be continued... )

To To To

Not very many Americans remember this day, to most, it's just another day. The title of this post was the attack code given to the Japanese pilots to commence the attack on Pearl Harbor which started at 07:55 with the 1st of 2 waves attacked several key locations in Hawaii, with Pearl Harbor as being the most memorable.

My aunt would tell me about it. She remembers sitting on the porch of their home and seeing the Japanese fighters flying so low to the ground, you could actually see the rivets.

NIITAKAYAMA 1208, Moichido 1208

A Day that will live in Infamy

IJVB (Internet Japan Virtual Broadcasting Network)

It's a late start but I've decided to join the Podcasting community and add one more to the mix. I'm hoping that this will stand out among the millions that are out there, mostly using my experience from the days of working for a Radio Station in Hawaii called KZOO radio. KZOO was a AM radio station, presenting a Japanese format radio station bringing music and news from Japan and also including some local fair as well.

Currently I'm working on trying to contact the major record labels in Japan and try to get them to send me promotional music from new and current artist that they would like to showcase either emerging artist or artist that have new albums that they have recently released or about to be released.

I believe that there is a market for this type of entertainment with the millions of Japanese nationals either immigrating, working or studying in the U.S. I would also like to showcase artists from Hawaii, both new and old artists. Right now, I'm in the planning and setup phase of my first podcast. I hope to start off with a half hour podcast and eventually make it an hour long show. If it eventually does become popular, I just may decide to make it live. For a live show, I'll need to see about getting sponsers to keep up with the cost of live broadcasting.

つづく ( To be continued... )

TekWar / IT Heirarchy

TekWar / IT Heirarchy
Originally uploaded by TekBandit66.

As I was sitting around late one night, I came up with the idea how IT is a parallel to IT. You have your CIO (Chief Information Officer) below him you have your department heads and so on and so forth. The image is from a quick org chart I created to visually state the relation between the two. Basically you have your daily battles of trying to keep the networks from falling apart, in order to do this, you have your soilders in a ever present, never ending battle with both technology and the ever elusive Murphy.

The mercenaries of IT are usually contractors, usually only there for the money, the "hired guns" of IT if you will. Mercenaries are also usually employees that stick around until something that offers better money (pay, salary, etc...) Below them, you have other types of people...

You could even modernize it and compare IT to the Military. However I like the Feudal Japan system better, without having to commit seppuku.

つづく ( To be continued... )

Stupid is as Stupid does... and NO, I'm not your pass around drunken bitch...

Here I go again... I hate it when people don't know the names of the tools of their job, the correct names. You don't go to a mechanic that calls an air wrench an air hose or you don't take your car in for repairs and say that your car has no gas when you need to get a new battery just because the car doesn't start. It really, really pisses me off when a person that is performing a job they were hired to do and don't know how to use the tools of that job. This is like being hired to be a firefighter and don't know how to fight fires.

Just because a person knows what it is and what it needs to do, that doesn't mean everyone knows what your thinking or thinks like that person. I may be intuitive, but I am not psychic and just because I work for a particular company, supporting equipment, that doesn't mean I know everything about everyones jobs. It's like a cashier working at a automotive repair shop, just because that person can ring up the bill, that doesn't mean that person knows how to fix a vehicle.

Now on to the other part of the title.

Another thing that really pisses me off is when you get a call (another clue to what I do as a job) and after resolving that issue, the person states that they have someone else there that needs to talk to you regarding the same or another issue, eventually you get passed around to just about everyone there. Just because they don't want to go through the phone menu and having to wait for someone to answer. You have a dozen other people waiting for someone to answer the phone and help resolve their issue and you'd rather make everyone else wait just to advance your own agenda. It's like standing in a line, waiting for your turn and someone in front of you lets their friends and family ahead of you to cut in line, that's rude and inconsiderate.

The other thing I really hate is those people that call you while their issue is being resolved, but they called so that they wouldn't have to spend time going through all the menu items and having to wait, so does that mean I'll have to waste my time waiting for the resolution or having to try and resolve the issue myself and maybe not having to deal with anything while I could have been help someone else with more immediate needs? You Selfish Bastard/Bitch!

What it boils down to is learn to use and the names of the tools of your job, don't waste my time, cause unlike you, I have other things that I need to be doing and don't have the time to be just waiting hand and foot on you. Get off your lazy asses and be considerate of other people cause unlike you, they have more pressing issues that need resolution. Also, if need be, take a computer class.

つづく ( To be continued... )

Upgrade almost complete

The upgrade is about 90 percent complete. I just have to install the last couple pieces of software and it'll be done. So far I've noticed an increase in perfomance while working with sound files. From the short time I played Battlefield 2, I've noticed a little more details, like now I can see rocks and particles when things are blown up, the puff of smoke with a shot hits something other than the target...

つづく ( To be continued... )

The new computer setup

The new computer setup 17
Originally uploaded by TekBandit66.

Samantha decided to watch me put my computer together, in order to get comfortable, she used the protective foam from the video card box as a bed. She didn't move until I was ready to plug in the power and start it up. It took about 3 - 4 hours total time to put it all together, I'm sure it would've taken less time if I worked straight.

While putting the computer together, I realized I was much happier than doing anything else. Then again, it's not everyday that I take apart a computer and put it together again, let alone upgrade a computer everyday.

Once I got the computer to power up, I had to switch the DVD drives's with the Hard drives from the motherboard IDE controller to the IDE controller card as I had intended to do. This was because, for some reason, the onboard IDE controller is setup like a secondary controller, so with the IDE controller card is like the primary. After swapping that, it booted up but before getting to the login screen, it would reboot. Turns out that I needed to reload Windows XP so that the OS would recognize the new CPU.

As of this entry, I'm slowly still installing programs that I had previously installed... So it's slow going...

つづく ( To be continued... )

IT'S ALIVE!

All the parts had arrived yesterday, picked them up from my friends house. After getting home, I wasn't in an extreme rush to get the computer up, so I took my time taking out the old stuff and replacing it with the new parts. I was basically planning out the install as I was doing it. Samantha decided that the protective foam for the video card was a good place to lay down and watch me work on the computer (got a picture that I'll put up later). Everything went well, almost well, after getting the CPU fan on the processor and tried to reinsert the motherboard tray back into the case, the fan hit part of the case, it was just a little bit higher than the opening. Ended up having to remove the fan, inserting the motherboard tray and then re-installing the fan.

I took pictures of all the steps that I took and should have them posted to my flickr account soon. I'll have to install a new copy of Windows, as soon as that is done, I'll have all the pictures up and back online for a round of Battlefield 2 or two.

つづく ( To be continued... )

Intel Core 2 Duo

Parts have been ordered on Friday, now, just waiting for the parts to arrive, selected 3 day shipping, so I'm guessing that it should be at my friends house on either Wednesday or Thursday, I just hope that the video card arrives at the same time as the rest of the parts. The bulk of the parts (Motherboard, CPU, CPU Fan, Memory and Power supply) were ordered through Newegg and the PCI-e video card was ordered through Crucial (Micron).

Why did I order the video card through Crucial and not have it all through Newegg? Well, the Radeon X1600 from ATI has GDDR2 memory installed on it, while the Crucial built card using the ATI chipset, which is also a Radeon X1600 has the GDDR3 memory installed. Also, for the same model with the better memory, it was $40 cheaper.

Now after this upgrade, I hope that I can save enough money to get the new Nikon D80 Digital SLR camera. I currently have an Olympus (as mentioned in my previous entries) and so far it's been doing a good job of taking photos, but I want to do more. Nothing like going pro but still, I find myself getting frustrated because of the limited features of the camera.

Well, found out that the video card has arrived, wasn't expecting that till tomorrow. Unfortunately, the rest of the parts won't arrive till the 19th, Thursday. I guess I've waited this long, I can wait one more day...

つづく ( To be continued... )

Excaliber

My Sleep pose is:

Find your own pose!

I was reading an article about sleep in the Star Tribune regarding couples and what happens and how it affects relations between couples. Pretty interesting article, according to the researcher, nothing of this type of study has been done before, which I find it interesting because we all do it, no one has really given it much thought as to how it affects couples.

Well, tonight is the night that the new computer get ordered.

つづく ( To be continued... )

Thank you Nintendo!

If it wasn't for Nintendo creating the DS Lite, I'd be losing my mind and wouldn't know what to do with myself... My computer is out of order, I did troubleshooting on my computer and at first thought it was the video card, I then thought it may have been the AGP slot that was going bad, but after switching out the video card with a known good video card, that was not the case.

I then pulled the DIMM's and found that the 2 512k DIMMs that I have in there were the type of memory I normally wouldn't buy, but not paying attention and being that they were cheap at the time, I bought them. The 1st is a Samsung module, the 2nd is a Kingston. I tried switching them around, then I tried them one at a time and now the computer doen't boot up at all.

So, the Motherboard is still in good working condition, just the memory is bad. I'm about 90 percent sure that if new memory modules were installed, the board will boot. I'll just go through with the upgrade. So, I'll have a Biostar TDK 478 Intel chipset motherboard, Intel P4 2.53 Mhz CPU with a Zalman CPU cooler, a Linksys 10/100 LAN card and an ATI 9700 AGP video card with 128k of Video RAM for sale soon, included or sold seperately, a Antec 300 Watt ATX power supply.

I know what your asking, what am I planning to upgrade to? Well, I'm going to upgrade to an Intel DP965LT Socket T (LGA 775) motherboard with the built in sound card and LAN card that does 10/100/10000, 1 gig of Crucial DDR2 800 Mhz memory, a Core 2 Duo 2.13 Mhz CPU, a Zalman CPU Cooling Fan, an Antec Smartpower 450W Power supply and an Crucial Radeon X1600 PCI-e with GDDR3 GPU and 256k of Video memory. The Crucial Radeon was 40 dollars cheaper than the ATI and it came with a better GPU than the ATI...

Going back to the DS Lite, last week I picked up the Lego Star Wars 2 and True Swing Golf. I've been more into the Golf than the Lego Game, I guess secretly I've always been a virtual golfer... One other thing I've noticed since the computers been out of order, I've gotten more house work done and also ironed my dress shirts intead of just wearing them and looking as if I slept in them the night before.

I'm not looking forward to the next 2 days of walking to the bus stop to get to work, the weather predicted for those days are rain and eventually turning into snow. I guess I'll have to wear the boots and the long coat... I'll have to use the water resistant spray on the backpack so that the contents won't get wet.

On a side note, I don't know what has been causing it, but I've been having some pretty bizarre dreams lately, I can't remember any of them but I do remember that it was very strange. Last week, I dreamt something that made me wake up crying... all I can say is that it had something to do with a child dying, I don't remember if it was my child or someone elses child, but the dream was so emotional. In the past, I have had this happen 3 to 4 times before.

This past weekend had been a relaxing one, no contact with people, just me, the TV, Samantha and the DS Lite. With the exception of my friend coming over briefly with his son to visit Samantha and deliver some food items for the week. The only difficult decision I had was to decide on playing on the DS or watching TV... What would have made it perfect is deciding on what type of bait to use to catch fish.

つづく ( To be continued... )

Giving last rites to my PC

Last week my computer would either get video corruption on the desktop, not boot or just randomly shutdown. Well, after switching out the video cards, it has been determined that there is something on the motherboard that is causing the issue.

Well... after looking around for a suitable replacement (which there was none), I've decided to do a major upgrade to the PC. So in the mean time, I won't have internet access from home or more importantly, play Battlefield 2 online. If it wasn't for the DS Lite I recently got, I'd be going nuts, not being able to play any games. On a side note, Samantha is much more happy cause I don't have a computer for now. Only because I've been paying more attention to her.

つづく ( To be continued... )

My life as a country song (except way cooler and more futuristic)...

My computer is not working the way it should, I suspect the video card is going on it, I keep getting video corruption on the desktop, the PC will shutdown either while booting, in the BIOS or while logged in. So, for now, no Battlefield 2, no email from home, no pictures to Flickr...

My car is basically falling apart, the Front CV shaft (front drive car), the boots have a split in them and are loose. The right side makes a clicking noise when I turn to the right, we (my friend and I) tried to get the disc brake off cause the nut wouldn't come off, he sprayed it with WD-40 and waited, tried to pound it off, even tried an air wrench... in the end, we gave up. The engine is leaking oil, the right side blinker is shorted out. There's a CD stuck in the player that won't eject... the CD will play, but I hate the music on it... The stereo, only 1 speaker works out of the 2, the 2 rear speakers are missing... I have to admit, I've had better cars for the same amount I paid...

Well, at least I have a Nintendo DS Lite, however the only game that I have for it is the Atari Retro games... I still have cable... I still have a bottle of Cuevo Black... Samantha is still with me... I suppose without the computer, I could spend quality time with Samantha, I've been neglecting her for Battlefield 2, so at least she'll like that. I could get other things done that I've been putting off for a while, like cleaning up the apartment.

つづく ( To be continued... )

Grilled Steak and Chicken

Grilled Steak and Chicken
Originally uploaded by TekBandit66.

This past weekend, I treated my friend and his family to dinner. Since the apartments that I live in doesn't allow grills of any kind and he had a grill, it was a good compromise. I made steak and chicken for our dinner, the steaks were from the Black Angus, a New York Strip, the chicken was this new type that Cub Foods started carrying that the chickens were raised without any drugs or vitamins.

Well, everyone enjoyed my cooking so much that just about everyone was stuffed...lol I have to admit, I really enjoy cooking for those who really appreciate it. Well, his son didn't care for the chicken so my friends Mom made him a cheese sandwich.. I didn't mind, I know that children can be fussy eaters, he did give the chicken a try though and I think he did try the steak... He did really enjoy the rice though...

After a meal like that, I was planning on making Kara Age chicken, but got lazy... so maybe Monday night, I'll pick up more chicken so that I can make it.

The weather is going to get cooler this week, I'm already planning on making red wine stew and Japanese brown curry. The curry, I want to make it with lamb, but the main markets don't carry it, so I'll have to see about going to a meat market to pick up some.

The Camry didn't get an upgrade this weekend, tried to take the CV shaft off the car, but the bolts holding in the brake pads were so stubborn, we gave up trying to take them off. I just hope that it'll last a while till I can save up for another car, till then, everytime I start out on a trip, I'll have to pray that the car won't give out in the middle of nowhere...

The Honey Crisp Apples made it into the stores, but the quality and the size is nowhere close to those at the farmers market, hopefully I'll still have enough money for the Famers Market this Thursday to get some.

I was also debating on getting a Nintendo DS for the bus ride to and from work, but somehow just can't justify the cost of getting one with a game, especially since there isn't a whole lot of a selection on games, oh well, guess I'll just stick with the mp3 player...

つづく ( To be continued... )

Honey Crisp Apples!!!

Tis' the season for Honey Crisp Apples, actually it's supposed to begin on September 15th, apparently there are some farms that have them early. Either way, I have to get them, they are so sweet, juicy and crunchy. The best ones are from the Farmers Market, cause they appear to be larger and those that you can get in the Market.

The weather since yesterday seems like fall already, the skies are mostly grey, the temperature has been a little cooler... I guess I prefer the cooler weather over the hotter weather, it makes it for better sleeping. I'd rather be bundled up and snug in my bed and blankets then being sprawled out all over the place, trying to get cool.

As I sit here at work, with a headache that doesn't seem to want to go away even after taking 2 tabs of aspirin. Riding the bus into work didn't help either. It seems the bus was busier than a week day. Then again, it may have been because of the grey, fall like weather. I don't mind riding the bus, mostly cause I save on gas, but some of the people on the bus should learn to use soap before getting on a mass transit system as a courtesy to the other riders. Sure occasionally you get your forever drunk riders that try to hide their alcohol in a soda bottle, but worse yet is someone who, lets face it, stinks.

By the way, contrary to what most people think, vodka does have a smell to it. No matter how you try to hide it or what others have told you, it smells like, alcohol, the rubbing kind. Why do I say this? I drink vodka occasionally and when I do, I prefer it either straight or on the rocks.

So far the Camry is still running, but I'm a bit worried about the CV joint, the clicking noise when I turn to the right, as I've been told by many people, is a sign that it needs to be replaced. Until I can buy a replacement part, I'll have to nurse the car as much as possible to avoid it breaking down a lot sooner than necessary.

Last night I made garlic bread with the rolls I picked up at the farmers market this past Thursday. I ended up eating about 3 pieces and Samantha didn't want to be around me for a while after that... I'm looking to make spaghetti tomorrow and I'll sautee' the mushrooms I picked up at the farmers market also. I'll sautee' them in butter and add some red wine, it'll be added to the marinara sauce.

つづく ( To be continued... )

Vehicle hardware upgrade version 90.00A

Little did I know that saving the screws from previous computer upgrades and builds would benefit my vehicle. The windshield wipers, from the previous owner was changed, apparently they took off the hardware for the wiperblades and tried to put the replacement blades directly on the wiper arm then put a screw in to hold the wiper blade onto the arm.

It was time for another replacement because it seemed as if the wiper blades were replaced previously about 10 years ago. To make a long story short, I was able to get both wiper blades off but ended up breaking the screw head off on one side, I got the new hardware on the arm but because I broke the screw on the other, at the time, thought I would have to wait till I got to a hardware store to get a replacement screw.

The next day after trying to figure out when I would be able to buy a replacement screw, it came to me that I have spare screws for the computer and thought that the size was pretty similar to the one that was broken. So, that night, after getting home, I had the hardware with me and picked out a screw that was pretty close and went out to the car, low and behold, it was the exact same size. What a relief that was...

つづく ( To be continued... )

The Human Walking Butt...

Oh the Joys of Public Transportation. On the bus ride home last night, a bus rider boarded the bus. Normally it wouldn't have caught my attention, less chronicle about the experience and or person, but (pun intended) he smelled so bad, either this guy was a sewer worker, never bathed in his life or just doesn't care. I'm going with the last two.

At first, after boarding the bus, mostly because I usually sit towards the middle of the bus, as he selected his seat, about 1 bench away... The stench from this guy was so bad, the woman in front of me eventually moved towards the back of the bus, trying to get away from his butt smell. Now I don't know if this guy uses toilet tissue after going to the bathroom or rubs his butt smell all over himself, but it was bad.

Now I can take smelling the occasional skunk scent when driving or walking past a skunk hiding off to the side, but eventually I had to open the bus window to let the air flow through and try to divert his funk away from me. This person appeared to be somewhat less than intelligent or stoned beyond reality. When he finally got off the bus, his funk stayed and seemed to get off at the next stop, to which I was so grateful, normally I would nap a bit on the way to the end of the line, but his funk kept me wide awake till about 3 stops after with the window open.

I think from now on, I'm going to do what I did in Japan, carry a bottle of cologne and a cloth handkerchief. You do that in Japan when your out doing the tourist stuff because if you have to use the public restrooms there, you'll be spraying the cologne into the handkerchief and holding it up to your nose and mouth while breathing through it. Enough said.

Thursday was a pretty good day, it was Farmers Market day in Downtown Minneapolis, I bought some really good red pears, really crunchy and sweet peaches, ginger, wild plum jam, the really, really good rolls and some Zucchini Nut bread. I wanted to get the potted basil plant, but decided not to. The habanero plant that I bought for a dollar about a month ago is doing pretty well now, got a sun lamp and some fertilizer for it, it looks as if more peppers are going to be coming out.

Now if I could pick up this RC vehicle that looks like a bug and shoots nerf darts called N.S.E.C.T for work... Nah, better not. I could just imagine starting something new, all these RC bugs walking around the office, shooting people. It might look like a scene out of the Movie Runaway starring Tom Selleck and Gene Simmons...

つづく ( To be continued... )

Engage Cluetrain blogospheres

I got a replacement vehicle, it's a 1990 Toyota Camery, missing the pipe from the Catalytic coverter to the resonator. It's a bit loud but at least now I can travel on the freeways instead of having to drive the back roads. It'll take a little work to get it in better shape, but at least it's mine, not the financial institution, but mine. Oh and the other thing I like about it, it's a manual transmission. I've realized that I like the manuals over automatics, mostly because you save a little bit more on gas.

Haagen Dazs has a really good flavor, a sorbet called Tropical Sorbet, it's a blend several types of fruits and it's SOOOOO Good! I ended up eating a pint of this sorbet all by myself. Oh, for you weight conscious readers out there, it's fat free. They also have a Mango flavor, which I am yet to try it out...

I also recently picked up a new set of headsets for my mp3 player, the sound is fairly good, the best part of it is, when I'm riding the bus, I can't hear anyone else but my music. For the price I paid for the headsets, it's pretty good, but not as good as my studio headsets from AKG, Shure makes the headsets which I was more familiar with the Microphones, but was a little hesitant about the headsets. They do have a better quality headset, but the suggested price was about 200 dollars... just a bit too much to use while riding the bus, but perfect for digital recording.

つづく ( To be continued... )

Flickr instead of textamerica

I found that Flickr is easier to use than Textamerica, plus more people that I know use Flickr, like my really good friend in Hawaii, whom I first met while I was a DJ for a Japanese radio station there. I ended up being his BBS tester whenever he added new features or upgraded his BBS. For those of you that don't know what BBS stands for, BBS is Bulletin Board Service. This was like the net of the dial-up days...

I've changed the slide show on the side from Textamerica to Flickr since I add more photos there than I do with the other.

Anyway, even to this day, every so often, my friend in Hawaii asks me to test things out on his website, which is now a forum for Firefly as well as other SciFi movies and shows. Now days he doesn't really have much time to add new things or upgrade his site because he's been having a house built in Hawaii, plus his job as a programmer for some kind of financial software (I think).

Also, since he does a lot of programming for Microsoft OS, I tend to ask him questions about Windows and such. As a matter of fact, without his advice and wisdom, I wouldn't be in computers, either building or trouble shooting them if it wasn't for him. Thanks Haken.

Catching a taxi the last 10 miles after the bus gets to the end of the line isn't all that bad, at least, if it wasn't for Uncle Pawlenty giving me money (Property Tax Refund), I wouldn't be able to do this and would've had to walk the last 10 miles. At the begining of the week, I didn't think I would've had enough money to do the 5 days of cab rides, but as it turned out and as luck would have it, I had just enough to get me through this work week. Now if my luck continues, that car that I was interested in hasn't sold yet, or at least I haven't gotten a call from the owner yet, I'll be able to check it out and also hopefully have my friend go along to check out the mechanical side of the car to make sure it's worth the asking price.

It seems that I'm lucky with finding vehicles and being able to purchase one, but it seems that I'm not lucky when it comes to owning them for very long. Since moving to Minnesota back in 1995, I have owned 7 vehicles plus 1 motorcycle, which I had shipped from Hawaii for a total of 8 vehicles... out of the 8, one of them was a brand new '96 Plymouth Breeze, which I really, really liked... Manual transmission, smooth ride, quiet and very economical fuel wise, but because I wasn't able to keep up with payments, the car got taken away. That's why since then I get used vehicles and pay for them up front instead of financing, this way, I own the vehicle and not have some financial institution own it and having to pay them for the use of it.

つづく ( To be continued... )

1 beats 10...

Well, I have to admit, walking 1 mile beats having to walk 10 miles... anyday. At least I know about how much it would cost to catch a cab from the Northtown Mall to the Riverdale Cub. I have the money to do this for at least 3 times and was thinking of walking the 10 miles on the 4th day. The difficult part would be taking in lunch that won't spoil on the ride into work. With the money that I would kind of save on the 4th day, I could buy stuff in downtown that won't spoil that I could keep at my desk.

Something to think about until I get to work tomorrow.

Hopefully that car that I found in an ad will still be available, if it is, I should have a replacement car by this weekend.

つづく ( To be continued... )

The next 4 days will be a test of endurance...

Tonight it shouldn't be that bad going home, just need to make sure that I can catch a cab from 41st Ave. in Columbia Heights, it'll be a bit more than the cab ride from my apartment to the Northtown Mall, which with tip came out to $25.00, but if I have to do this for the next 4 nights, it'll take me a while to make up the loss, not only that I don't have the money to do this because of the other thing that I need to take care of.

I figured that it'll come out to about $100.00 even if I were to take a cab from the last stop that the buses run to, which is in the Northtown Mall at the hour that I finish work and to make it there, if something urgent comes up at work, I won't be able to make it that far, cause the later buses only goes as far as 41st ave. There is no one that I can call for a ride or would ask for a ride because it is so way out of everyone's way that I know. My friend that lives in Blaine won't be able to do that because he has to be up by 7:00 a.m. and his wife is currently in the hospital due to very, very major surgery.

NOT HAVING A VEHICLE AND WORKING AT NIGHT IN A STATE WHERE THE BUS SYSTEM REALLY, REALLY, REALLY SUCKS... SUCKS!!!!!!

つづく ( To be continued... )

Good News, Bad News...

Good News: I potentially found a vehicle that fits my criteria, those are as follows:

1. Must be fuel effecient (gets at least 24 city and 30 highway).
2. Must be inexpensive (between 300 to 500 dollars).
3. Must be very minimal on maintenance (just have to do an oil change, refill fluids, filter changes and basic service of the vehicle).
4. If I finance a vehicle, I must be able to sign on my own for the financing without the need for a co-signer.


Well, I've found a vehicle that potentially fits my criteria, I just need to have my friend go along to check over the car, a 1990 Toyota Camery 4 door. From the photos it looks as if it has very minimal rust and the owner is asking $400.00 for the car.

Bad News: I don't have the full asking price available to me until Friday, the 18th of this month. I potentially have about half but while talking with the owner, it was apparent that he wanted the asking price in full before he signs over the car.

So for this week, I'll have to catch the bus to and from work, the only bad part of that is, that I work a 2:30 p.m. to 11:00 p.m. shift for this week until I can change shifts next week with a co-worker that would like to change shifts with me. This will allow me to catch the bus in and out of downtown, thus minimizing fuel consumption when I do get another vehicle, save money and give me a change of pace from working the late shift, not that it was bad, but I could use the variety of working a different shift now and then, to a mid-shift.

A friend of mine, whom I've known for about 8 years now has offered to rent part of his home to me for a little less than what I pay now, it's a great offer, plus the neighborhood is WAY better than my current place and it's a little or way closer to the bus route compaired to living in Anoka where the bus don't run at all on Sundays...

Which also reminded me, for today (Sunday), I'll catch a taxi to the Northtown Mall to catch the bus from there, then on the way back home, the bus I'll need to catch only goes as far as the 41st ave. in Columbia Heights, so I'll have to catch a taxi from there which is an additional 6 miles compaired to 10 miles from the Northtown Mall. I have to say, the bus system here in Minnesota really is awful compaired to the bus system in Hawaii.

つづく ( To be continued... )

No vehicle, no travelling, it's not that bad... yet.

Well, life after losing my truck, it's not that bad yet, however sundays are going to be a rough one, in order to catch the bus, I'll have to walk at least 10 miles to get to the Northtown mall to catch the bus into Minneapolis. Getting home the last bus going to the Northtown Mall is at 6, the last bus heading to 41st Ave in Columbia Heights is at 12 a.m.

I have been wanting to exercise, but this is a bit extreme to start off with. Can it get any worse? Yes it has. I won't get into that. I should just start begging for a new vehicle, other than the people that I know, if the occasional reader passing through, could you please donate a vehicle?
This couldn't have come at a worse time, a week before payday. There are a couple of vehicles that I am considering, but right now I don't have all the funds to get it.

I've also been thinking of adopting a friend/playmate for Samantha, but I'll have to wait and see till this vehicle crisis is over. My other concerns are that because she's been an only child and a spoiled one at that, she may not get along with a new friend...

つづく ( To be continued... )

The passing of Ms. Molly...

Tonight Ms. Molly passed away. I was just about to reach the Northtown Mall in Blaine, about 200 feet from the stop lights when there was a loud bang and then I had no control over the speed of the truck. The drive shaft finally broke. I was hoping that she would've lasted longer but since last night, I had a feeling it was going to go, just that I wished it was later and not tonight. So now I have to call the tow company, the ones that will tow for free and figure out a way of getting to work for the next 3 days and the following week.

Getting into work is not a problem, there are buses that run during that time, but it's when I get done with work, there are absolutely no buses that run past the Northtown mall, the walk is about 13 miles and takes about 3 hours.


つづく ( To be continued... )

Reviving things of the past...

In the past several months, I have been trying to get back into hobbies that I have not done for sometime... How long is sometime? Well, photography for one, I have not done since I was a photographer for the High School Newspaper and that was back in the Mid 80's. I guess I haven't really done much with that because of the cost of developing film. Unless you can do it yourself and have the time (which can be time consuming) it can still be more expensive than taking it down to your local drug store to get them developed. Plus the cost of actually buying film...

With digital camera becoming cheaper and also phones that have a camera built into them, it's getting easier and cheaper to take pictures. Currently I own a Olympus Digital Camera, the SP-350, which not bad for what it can do and the picture quality is very good. What I really want to get a Digital SLR camera. For those who don't know what a SLR camera is, as an example, the Canon Rebel or the Nikon cameras where you have to adjust the lens to focus and use 35mm film.

To see some of the pictures that I have taken, click here to see what I have captured. Also being a "Foodie" and a former chef, I take pictures of dishes I have prepared myself and food that I have purchased from different locations. I guess you can say that my picture gallery is an eclectic collection of images.

An update to the rebate controversies... I had decided that I would honest, but just enough to let Garmin know what a terrible company Paragon is in handling their rebates for products. That was on a Tuesday that I had emailed their company and by Thursday, I had gotten a call from Garmin saying not to cash the check. Well, too late. I went to a check cashing store, it cost me about 3 percent to cash the the check, but, Hey! What the heck, I still got about 90 plus dollars from it. At this point, I figured, let Garmin and Paragon fight it out.

Again, in the future, I'll never purchase an Olympus product again, only because their customer service is bad and only under threat of the FTC reporting did they "try" to contact me by having me call them... Why should I have to call them? They should be making every and any attempt to contact me, I'm the customer, I'm the consumer that purchased their product and they were the ones offering the rebate. If they didn't want to make it right, then they should've forced Paragon to do so.

By the way, anyone got a vehicle that they would like to donate to the TekBandit Foundation for travel? Unfortunately, it's not tax deductible (or maybe it can be, as long as I provide a reciept), I don't think that Ms. Molly (a '82 Mazda B2000 Pickup) is going to last another month, although I keep asking her to hold on for just a little while longer and so far she keeps coming through for me... It's that Ms. Molly has had a good life and now it's time that she needs a long rest...

つづく ( To be continued... )

SP350 Rebate Form

SP350-Rebate
Originally uploaded by TekBandit66.

Ok, just to be fair, I've added the form that I had to fill out for the rebate on the camera. I know that it's hard to see, but highlighted below the information that I've edited, is the disclaimer for the rebate. In the highlighted portion of the disclaimer it states to allow 8 - 10 weeks for delievery of the rebate. As I had noted before, I had sent in the rebate submission in the week of March 19th.

Here is the information from Paragon, whom Olympus contracts to handle the rebates:

Rebate: $50.00 Rebate Check
Rebate Information For: 18923XXXX
Promotion: Receive $50 Mail in Rebate on SP-350 Digital Camera at Participating Retailers
Submission Type: MAIL-IN
Date Received: 04-11-2006
Check Issue Date: 07-04-2006
Check Cleared Date: 07-13-2006
Check Number: 1595XXXX
Status Detail: Your rebate is valid. Please allow up to 30 days to receive your rebate.

Cleared meaning that I've cashed it. Well that took about 3 months to get to me which is far in excess of 8 - 10 weeks... Now here is the information regarding the Garmin GPS that I never bought:

Rebate: $100.00 Rebate Check
Rebate Information For: 19794XXXX
Promotion: Garmin GPSMAP 76Cx, 76CSx and 76CS Plus $100 Rebate
Submission Type: MAIL-IN
Date Received: 07-10-2006
Check Issue Date: 07-11-2006
Check Number: 1606XXXX
Status Detail: Your rebate is valid. Please allow up to 30 days to receive your rebate.

I got the check and ended up cashing it anyway, at this point, I'm thinking that this is Paragon's way of apoligizing for messing up the rebate with Olympus after I ended up filing a complaint with the FTC. I did make an attempt to contact Garmin but I guess they don't care cause it's been a couple of days ago. If large companies don't care about the waste of money that other vendors are causing them, well, I guess I shouldn't care and just hope that more incidents like this happen.. Free Money...

つづく ( To be continued... )

A Rebate for a GPS Device? but I didn't buy one...

Rebate
Originally uploaded by TekBandit66.

The pictures that I have been taking with an Olympus SP350 camera and posting the images on flickr, the camera had a rebate for $50, which I sent in during the week of March 19th after purchasing the digital camera before going into work.

I sent in the rebate with all the required materials and waited... and waited... and waited... After about 2 or 3 weeks I called "Olympus Rebate Center" and was told that they didn't recieve my rebate submission... I got pretty upset and asked to talk to a supervisor, to which I was told the same thing, I then asked to talk to a manager and was again told the same thing, that they didn't recieve my rebate, however about 2 days after calling I get an email notification that they had recieved my rebate submission on April 11th. Ok, so according to the rebate terms, it stated that I need to wait 8 to 10 weeks for them to send the money after my rebate had been processed and validated.

I waited as stated in the rebate terms and emailed Olympus to check the status of my rebate. I got a reply to call customer service and so I did, upon calling them, I was told that I had to call a different number, the number for their "rebate center" to check on the status of my rebate. I replied to that email and told them of my last experience calling for a status, however I don't think that they have a live person answering emails or they have a preset reply, cause it seemed as if they didn't read my email and got the exact same response the next time they replied. I even ended up emailing the parent company in Japan and was directed back to Olympus USA and didn't get a response then...

I was pretty frustrated with the whole situation. About a week later, about 11 and a half weeks after getting no where, I get an email again stating that my rebate has been validated and that they will be sending out a check, but to allow up to 30 days for it to arrive... NO WAY AM I GOING TO WAIT THAT LONG!!! It's already been 12 weeks at this point, why should I have to wait an additional 4 weeks to get a rebate that was supposed to get back to me in 8 to 10 weeks?

I ended up going through the FTC (Federal Trade Commission) web site and filed a complaint with them and also found about 2 sites that you can leave complaints on regarding a company that you've had troubles with and posted my issues with Olympus... About a day after that, I then emailed Olympus and informed them that I had filed a complaint with the FTC and posted my complaints on 2 other sites... Low and behold! I go to check the status of my rebate and find that it has been mailed on July 5th... then on July 10th, I get an email stating that my submission for a rebate has been recieved.

I go through the link to check out what it was about and find that it was for a Garmin GPSMAP 76Cx, 76CSx and 76CS Plus and that the rebate is for a $100.00. I then thought to myself, I didn't buy a GPS, even if I did, I would have remembered if I did. At this point I suspect that it was a mistake and that I'll be getting an email stating such, however I didn't, the next day I check the link, it stated that my submission was valid and that a check was being sent. Ok, so I still didn't believe it, not until I have the check in hand. Then on Saturday, July 15 (after the postal carrier arrived late), I got the check...

Now, I suspect that the company that actually handles the rebate, Paragon, messed up big time and someone from Olympus got on their case to resolve the issue. I don't agree with them going through another company to resolve this issue, but then again, I can't complain, basically I got a $150.00 off my camera, however I don't think I'll be getting another Olympus when I get a digital SLR camera.

I've been looking at the Canon D30 and the Nikon D200, the Canon is least expensive by about a thousand, it has the same megapixels as the Nikon... I'll have to do more research cause at first, I was leaning more towards the Nikon, but with the New Canon D30 available, it's looking pretty good.

つづく ( To be continued... )

A Dream so real, it almost seemed as if it happened

Last night, I had a dream that seemed like I was gone for about a week. It started off with me being back in Hawaii and somehow ended up becoming part of a flight crew for a space mission. Another person was bumped from the mission so that I could be on it, the vehicle was a new type of flight vehicle, I don't remember if it needed a rocket booster, but I do remember that it could land on it's own after re-entering the atmosphere.

The mission was to pick up another person at a base on the moon, troubleshoot a lunar surface surveyor and make sure that a flying surface probe was still functioning. We had found the surface surveyor but it had fallen over during it's mission, we turned it over while the other flying probe came over to investigate. The flying probe kept bumping into me and trying to scan me for some reason. Eventually we returned back to the space craft with the 3rd person and started back to earth.

The craft was kind of like an airplane, except that it had rocket brakes and could land vertically without having the need for a runway. I remember putting my helmet back on for the landing but didn't need to. After landing, all 3 of us went into a building back in Hawaii for a de-briefing and news conference. It turned out that our flight was not the only flight that went up, but another experimental spacecraft had also returned with their crew at the sametime.

I remember seeing a locker with my name on it and remember putting my helmet back into the locker, getting changed for the news conference... this is where I woke up, breathing slightly rapid as if I had actually done this. In the past, I have had other dreams where it seemed so real, even more real than this and still remember the sensation, a dream about flying. Not flying in an aircraft; but flying on my own power, the feeling of soaring through the air, the feeling of freedom, the sensation of the wind blowing past my face and through my hair.

つづく ( To be continued... )