Battlefield 2

Here is my story since the clan I was associated with have since banned me...

I became a member in October of 2007 and have played on their maps, Ghost town and Road Rage. Due to the Holidays, I had stopped playing for about a month to 2 months. When I was able to continue, I was unable to log onto the Road Rage map.

I tried to find a solution but apparently because I downloaded it through a online purchase of the add-on, I was unable to re-install it or re-download the map. After much researching, I decided on purchasing a hard copy (buying the actual disk in a retail store). However since EA (Electronic Arts), stopped any further updates, they didn't have the stand alone copy of the Armored Fury maps for sale anywhere.

I had been getting an error and kick out of the online play by Punkbuster, a MD5 Mismatch in the Settings.ini, now I find this rather frustrating cause, no one had said anything or getting kicked off the clan back in May/June months. I would just stop playing for the evening and try again the next, or I would wait the amount of time it said and get back on...

So I decided on getting the Battlefield 2: Complete Collection, it took me about a month to find one cause EA had discontinued or ending further development of the Battlefield 2 series, I was finally able to find it.

So I re-installed Armored Fury and re-register my copy and was fine for a couple of weeks, then all of a sudden, I started to get the same message again. Now, this time, I get dropped by the clan I'm associated with. Several people, without getting the full information just automatically brand me a hacker/cheater and if that doesn't cap it, the Head of the clan will not listen to the explanation.

Prior to my being kicked from the clan, I had installed 3 additional mods, AIX, Reality Project and Nations at War. I've also installed another game called Call of Duty 4: Modern Combat. Both Battlefield 2 and Call of Duty 4 use Punkbuster. I've also re-installed Punkbuster and manually updated the files... Even after closing out my virus scanning software, I still got the same error...

I've been playing games online since the first FPS / Strategy games came out. Online, I know what happens when you hack much less care to hack a game to cheat. If I cheat, it's offline and offline alone. Besides, if I were hacking/cheating, wouldn't my scores reflect that I was? What frustrates me is that people are so quick to judge and they say that they don't, it's very difficult to dispute once it's in writing at this point and now, I don't think I want be be a member if this is going to happen, be it now or again...

つづく ( To be continued... )

Frustration levels rising again...

Just when something goes good, something else has to come along and drop on top of me like a 10 ton boulder.

I just found out the clan I was associated with in Battlefield 2 had banned me because of Punkbuster, which is screwing up and not me. I've always played by the rules online, even when other were not and now I'm catching the heat from that.

The clan members that once supported me when I first joined have all turned their backs on me, I'm really gettng sick of this two faced treatment, it happened before in person, at another job and now online... I'm just about ready to say Fxxk it and drop off the face of the Earth and society and just be alone... The only companionship and devotion I'm going to get is from Samantha, absolutely unconditional. I have no expectations of her and she, of me.

I'm tired, frustrated and burned out, I give more than my all, I care too much and work way to hard not realizing what my limits are and end up crashing because of it. Ask me what do I have to show for or prove it and I'll say - nothing.

つづく ( To be continued... )

My life as a song...

I've been relating to one particular song that was released in 1985 that was the title for the Movie of the same name, To Live and Die in L.A. Starring William Dafoe, William Petersen, John Tuturro, Dean Stockwell.

To Live & Die In L. A.
Wang Chung

In the heat of the day
Every time you go away
I have to piece my life together
Every time you're away
In the heat of the day
In the dark of the night
Every time I turn the light
I feel that God is not in heaven
In the dark of the night
The dark of the night

I wonder why I live alone here
I wonder why we spend these nights together
Is this the room I'll live my life forever
I wonder why in la
To live and die in la
I wonder why we waste our lives here
When we could run away to paradise
But I am held in some invisible vice
And I can't get away
To live and die in la

If I let myself go
And for where I just don't know
I'd maybe hit some cold new river
That led out to the sea
An unknown sea
I'd either swim or I'd drown
Or just keep falling down and down
I think it's that, that makes me quiver
Just to keep falling down
Down, down, down

I wonder why I live alone here
I wonder why we spend these nights together
Is this the way I'll live my life forever
I wonder why in la
To live and die in la

In every word that you say
I feel my freedom slip away
I feel the bars come down around me
And I can't get away
I can't get away

I wonder why I live alone here
I wonder why we spend these nights together
Is this the room I'll live my life forever
I wonder why in la
To live and die in la
I wonder why we waste our lives here
When we could run away to paradise
But I am held in some invisible vice
And I can't get away
To live and die in la

I can't get away
To live and die in la
I can't get away
To live and die in la
I can't get away
To live and die in la
I can't get away
To live and die in la

つづく ( To be continued... )

Changed mind, more new parts...

After much consideration, I've decided not to replace the bug shield that I was looking at. I've looked at other trucks that don't have them and I think it looks much better without one... so I may have to put up with bugs on the windshield or an occasional pebble hit on the hood... I'll eventually get the truck repainted, till then, it looks good as it is right now.

This past weekend I was planning on replacing my Oil Cooler Lines, I ended up getting something else cause I needed the gear ratio information in order to get the correct lines. The clerk at Checker Auto Parts was really helpful and gave me a website to look up *RPO codes that has that information.

*RPO stands for Regular Production Option

So, I'm going to wait till next weekend to pick up those lines, replacing them, that's another story, just looking at the location and where they hook up to, might be a long day to replace them.

What I did end up picking up was a locking gas cap, with the price of gas and stories of gas theft on the rise, I decided to replace my gas cap with a locking one. I know it won't prevent someone from stealing my gas but it's a deterrent.

This past weekend was a bit eventful. On Sunday, a storm blew through my area with Tornado sirens going off. Apparently there was a touch down approximately 10 miles west of where I live and it travelled in a north eastern direction. So, talk about dodging the bullet...

The amusing part was that I was trying to bleed my brakes, so I had my front and rear driver side tires off. As the storms approached, I rushed to get my tires back on like I was a NASCAR pit crew. Good thing my friend had air tools cause I wouldn't have made it in time.

つづく ( To be continued... )

and I thought computers were an expensive hobby...

Upgrading a computer can be an expensive hobby with all the different parts to get like video cards for better graphics, larger hard drives, more memory. That's nothing compared to a vehicle, let alone a truck.

Last weekend, I was repairing the bug shield/deflector by gluing the velcro dots that will hold it down. Well, the next day I went to go put it back on and had placed it on top of the garbage cans, the wind came up fast and hard and blew it off the garbage cans and fell onto the driveway, it broke exactly in half. So, last night I ended up removing the velcro dots off the hood of my truck. After removing those dots, I polished up the spots and looks ok for now...

I'll be looking for a replacement this weekend, I want to get the one made by Lund called the Interceptor II. A bug shield/deflector is much better than the hood bra.

つづく ( To be continued... )

New Turn Signals installed

New Turn Signals during the Day
Originally uploaded by TekBandit66

I purchased replacement turn signals since the original ones were getting faded. I got these through a company online called LMC Truck which they carry a lot of parts that either can't or are hard to find for older trucks.

As you can see here, it gives the truck a more aggressive look during the day and night. Eventually I want to replace the headlights with the same type since they are older and have small cracks in them. I also want to replace the front grill to an all black grill and I've been thinking of replacing the license plate holder to a chrome style.

つづく ( To be continued... )

This past weekend...

Worked on the truck this past weekend, took up the most of the day Saturday and part of the day Sunday. Swapped out the factory installed stereo speakers and put in some Pioneer's. I put in 2 way speakers in the front and 3 way speakers in the back. Unfortunately, all the speakers are 4x6's, so I don't have much of a selection for that truck and don't want to cut up the walls to install larger speakers. Besides, the speakers that are installed now put out some very good sound and has pretty good power.

Eventually, I want to install a sub-Woofer to get a little more bass, not a whole lot, but a little bit more than what I have now with the new speakers.

On Sunday, I picked up some color matched car wax to get rid of the scratches in the paint. I ended up heading to the car wash and washing the truck so that I could wax it without grinding in the grit and making the scratches worse. That took up half the day after driving my friends family to the theater to watch Ironman. After the theater, that's when I went to get the wax and my friend picked up some gypsum for the lawn where his dog had done it's business during the winter.

On Friday night, I went to see Ironman, if you haven't seen it yet, I would highly recommend you do.

I have more parts on order, so the next weekend might be busy again, got to replace the dash and bleed the brakes again. There seems to be a lot of air still in the brake lines yet. The next thing that needs to be changed it the mud protectors and the truck will need to go into the shop for service soon and the insurance is due in June...

つづく ( To be continued... )

Lack of Sleep, nightmares...

The lack of sleep has been getting to me, but right now there is nothing I can do about it. Well, at least during the week. I don't know what is causing it, either the job or the nightmares or the nightmares that is being caused by the job or what is causing the nightmares. Even if I try to get to sleep early, I keep waking up in the same length of time as I do if I sleep later.

The other morning, I practically bolted out of bed because of this nightmare that I had, which at the time I could vividly remember but an hour later couldn't. The more I try, the only thing that stands out was that I was searching for and found a bokken and that there was something I was trying to defend against.

Another consideration to my lack of sleep would be the secrets that I keep and the things that I have seen from my previous job. I guess the good news is that I don't hear voices telling me to do things and Samantha talks, but still can't understand a word she says.

つづく ( To be continued... )

Truck Upgrade continues...

Well, got a stereo installed and now am looking to upgrade the speakers from the stock speakers already in the truck. I'm also considering putting in an amp and sub-woofer to get a little more bass. The part of the dash that was removed, more than likely when the previous owner took out the stereo to put into their new vehicle, has been replaced as well as the A/C vents, the window seals have been restored. The old window seals were cracked and falling apart so they needed to be replaced with a new set so the water doesn't get into the doors.

The right side vent that I broke cleaning has also been replaced for a new one. Now the only thing left for the interior of the cab is to replace the ceiling that is falling down. That will be done later. For the exterior, I'll have to get the muffler, rear brakes, oil cooler lines and the fuel filter done at a shop. This way if they break it, they'll have to fix it.

Once I get the truck back to it's original condition, I'll be looking to upgrade the looks of the truck by adding a push bar, replacing the front grill, getting new rims and tires then eventually getting the little rust spots fixed and repainted.

In the mean time, I'll be trying to save up to get a new DSLR camera. I've been looking at the Nikon D300 as my upgrade to my current camera, an Olympus SP-350 and also get my costume together for the Renaissance Festival, which I'll have pictures of, hopefully with the Nikon.

つづく ( To be continued... )

Somewhat consistent... but I still hate the snow...

It seems that Winter doesn't want to give up just yet. It's already April and there's still snow with more snow predicted for the weekend. One thing for sure, I'm going to change the fuel filter on my truck no matter what the weather is like.

Within the next 2 weeks, my truck will go from version 92 to 92.A with the parts I'll be getting. I'm also hoping that I'll be finally getting a radio installed so that when I have to drive farther or wait, I'll have something to listen to. Talking about radios, the 3 that I'm looking at all have an Aux. input in the front of the unit. This will allow me to connect my mp3 player without having to use a headset while driving (very dangerous).

I'll also have to pick up some engine cleaner to get the engine cleaner than using Simple Green.

つづく ( To be continued... )

Another year older... or what to expect during the Yakudoshi year...

That time of the year has come and gone and this year is not one that I am looking forward to. You see, the Japanese call it Yakudoshi.

On About.com they had this:

Yakudoshi are the years of calamity. This is a Japanese belief that people at the ages of yakudoshi are likely to experience misfortunes or illness. It is generally believed that men's yakudoshi are the ages 25, 42 and 61, and for women 19, 33 and 37, though there are local and historical variations. One's yakudoshi is measured by adding one to the actual age.

The ages of 42 for men and 33 for women are considered to be particularly bad years, honyaku (great calamity). This is probably because the numbers 42 and 33 are phonetically unlucky numbers. 42 can be pronounced "shi-ni" which is homophonous with the word "to death," and 33, when pronounced as "sanzan" means "hard", "terrible", or "disastrous". When reaching yakudoshi, many people go to Shinto shrines for exorcism (yakubarai). Although this is just a superstition, it may not be improbable because people seem to go through hard times with their health or jobs around these ages.

Many people are also aware that the years preceding and following a major yakudoshi are yakudoshi years too. The year before yakudoshi is called maeyaku, while the year after is called atoyaku.

So I guess I was supposed to have this party to ward off the bad luck, but being by myself, I really don't have anyone that would. Usually this would be with family that would celebrate (so to speak). However, I believe that I maybe in the clear because the Japanese believe your age starts from the time of conception. This way, at the time of your birth, your already considered 1 year old, where I believe in the American culture, your considered 1 year old on your first birthday.

つづく ( To be continued... )

Just like a computer...

I pretty much spent the whole day driving around to the different auto parts stores and the junk yard, looking for parts and some additional accessories for the truck. After getting back, my friend and I spent the rest of the day trying to figure out why I didn't have any parking and dash lights, it also turned out my horn didn't work.

We even took apart the tail lights to see if there was a current getting to the tail lights. None what so ever. So, finally he ended up taking every single fuse out and looking at them. Turns out I had missed a fuse that was burnt out. Replaced that and then every thing worked.

Now for the fun part, upgrading the truck (or as others would put it customizing). I've got some parts that I already have in mind that I would like to get. For now... I have my eyes on something else... A new DSLR camera from Nikon.

つづく ( To be continued... )

A work in progress...

Well, the truck has been one of the best things I've purchased so far. However, it would be nice if I could drive it at night. I'll have to try and figure out the parking lights thing before I can drive it. It does limit where and how far I can drive before I need to stop at night due to a lack of running lights.

The headlights, turn signals and high beams work... but it won't make a difference if someone is coming up from the rear at night. After I get that resolved, I'll be planning on upgrading the truck... I can just see it now... sinking all my money into the truck and not being able to get that Nikon D300... Hmm....

つづく ( To be continued... )

Undocumented features...

Well, as I own the truck further and further out, I've learned a little bit more. Tonight, I got back to the truck, it started just fine. I find out that the instrument panel and parking/running lights don't work... I checked the fuse and it was fine. The headlight turns on, but not the rest. Ok, you've noticed that I wrote headlight and not headlights. Well, when I first looked at the truck, we, my friend and I, that only one headlight worked... no big deal, I'll just replace the bulb later.

Good thing I hung on to the Camry. The bad part, I already transferred the insurance. At least I still have the current cards for the Camry. I'll need to drive the car till this weekend so I won't have to drive the truck until after we can figure out why the above mentioned issues can be resolved.

Just to see what happens, I put my car up on Craig's List but didn't expect to get any response at all considering the condition of the car. What I got was about 15 responses... I guess I should've expected it considering I'm asking $165 for the car. It does run...


つづく ( To be continued... )

I got a new (used) Truck

Chevrolet Sierra 1500
Originally uploaded by TekBandit66

Finally! I have a better than decent vehicle. It's a 1992 but from the actual pictures of the truck, you can't see any rust at all. It did come with a trailer hitch, now just got to buy the post for it. There were other vehicles on the lot that I had considered, but after looking this one over, I just had to get it.

It didn't have a radio and the place where the EQ/Tape player and vent was, that panel was missing. Now I have to see if I can find a replacement. I've already been to a junk yard to see if I could find that piece, but all of the trucks in the yard had that particular piece missing. According to my friend that went with me to look it over as well noticed that the tires are pretty new... that's a bonus! Although it did give me a scare when I took it to the dollar car wash and it wouldn't start.

I got lucky because my friend was close by and was able to help me push it out of the bay. We tried to start it and it wouldn't turn over but all of the electronics would go on. I ended up calling a tow company to have it towed to a auto repair shop and they told me they'd be there in 20 to 30 minutes. About 10 or 15 minutes later, I tried to start the truck again and it started right up as if nothing happened. My friend suspects the starter may have gotten wet when I sprayed the undercarrige down to clean it. I called the tow company back to cancel the tow and drove it home.

After finally getting it back home, the first thing I did was clean the dash and wipe it down with Armor All, cleaned the windows both inside and out and gave the outside of the windows a coat of RainX. My friend cleaned up parts of the engine and took apart the air cleaner and filter just for good measure. He also suggested to get the transmission and radiator a flushing as welll as an oil change since it looked like the oil hasn't been changed and was down a quart.

I think tomorrow, I'll see if I can find my chrome polish and get the chrome parts of the truck, maybe even give it a coat of polish. I do need to get a new light bulb which should be an easy swap out.

つづく ( To be continued... )

DS Lite, Crimson and Cobalt

DS Lite, Crimson and Cobalt
Originally uploaded by TekBandit66

As promised here is the picture of both of them side by side before selling the "Crimson" red and black DS. Other than the color, both are the same in just about every aspect.





つづく ( To be continued... )

Admin, forgive them; for they know not what they do.

I have encountered people who have some skill, some that has skill and those that shouldn't be working with computers at all but in their minds think their doing good. Then again, I tend to be a perfectionist. Whatever job I do, I am compelled to do it very well or at least as best as I can.

It's really frustrating when a person just does things because that's what they were told to do the last time it occurred. For example, a computer goes off line, the last time, someone had told them to reboot and alls well. Unfortunately it isn't always the answer for the same issue. I keep telling these people to call first and let us advise you to reboot or not, but they don't listen, they just reboot anyway. Then they get mad at us/me because they can't work or they don't have the equipment working for them to do their job... Uh, maybe you should use that thing inside your skull called a brain. Think about what you did and then get mad at the right person, YOU, not me.

Another thing that I've really grown to become intolerant about is how I have to keep repeating myself to these people because I only get 10 percent of their attention when giving them instructions. What it comes down to now is that if their nice and listen, I'll go out of my way to resolve their issues but if they want to be a lugnut about it, then it's by the book, no deviations.

つづく ( To be continued... )

Another DS, Observations on a bus and other things...

There is nothing wrong with the last DS I purchased, just the color combinations I really liked. So now instead of the "Crimson" and black version, I recently bought the "Cobalt" and black version. Everything is the same, just the color difference. I'll try to get some pictures of the both of them together before I sell the Crimson one.

Last week while riding home on the bus, I was observing the other riders as they got on the bus and while they were riding the bus to their destinations. This one woman in particular, I've seen before, seems to enjoy stirring up controversy regarding race. She seems like she enjoys meeting new people like a person who enjoys traveling. However, she enjoys engaging only a particular type of people. The male was very passionate about his ancestry, his voice was rising in volume and seemed to be speaking faster and faster and attempting to drive the point to her.

She appeared to be backed into a corner and as if she was trying to defuse the conversation tried to back peddle... What it all ends up to is that she seemed as if to have lived a very sheltered life and came from a very small town...

Other people on the bus, there are those who basically make the bus their own, talking up and loudly without consideration of others on their cell phones. There are also people like me, wearing headphones and trying to drown out those people, appearing to be oblivious of their surroundings but being very observant.

As for the other things, I've come to realize that I'm becoming like my Uncle that I was afraid of, well, not really afraid of, just didn't care for his strict discipline. You see my Uncle, who has passed away several years ago, joined the Army back in Vietnam at the age of 17. He was supposed to be attached to the radio corps, but ended up driving tanks out in the field. So with that in mind, you get an idea of the kind of person he was (no, not suffering from PTSS) but a very tough, strict by the book soldier. Oh, and if your wondering, he went to work for Martin-Marietta (the company that built the Patriot and Hellfire missile) after getting out of the Army. If you've ever seen the movie Falling Down starring Michael Douglas and Robert Duvall, he used to dress just about the same way, both for work and leisure, without the necktie.

I'm getting pretty close to dressing like that myself...

つづく ( To be continued... )

Funny thing to talk about during Winter...

This past weekend I stopped off at a Cub Foods "Super" Market to pick up some things for the week or two and had this urge to get something sweet and cold to eat. I found something new among the huge selection of frozen confections, as a matter of fact, 2 new items.

The first was Michael's Frozen Custard. If you've never had frozen custard, it's rich, creamy and very delicious. I'm a bit torn between Culver's and Michael's. It appears that both companies are from Wisconsin. Culver's has really good burgers, but are a bit more expensive than most other places. Culver's is famous for their "Butter" Burgers and Frozen Custard. Michael's specializes in Frozen Custard but at their drive in locations, have root beer.

Last night after getting home from work, I picked up some A&W root beer and made a root beer float... Oh the combination was beyond words to describe! All I can say is that if you can find some Frozen Custard you gotta make a root beer float with this. Oh, and the flavors I picked up was vanilla and pumpkin. By itself it was fantastic, but the vanilla in a root beer float just made up for the day...

The other frozen confection I found was a Gelato called Talenti. I picked up Sonoma Strawberry and Lisbon Lemon. Once I started on it, I couldn't put it down, I literally had to force myself to stop so I wouldn't finish it in one sitting (although I have done it with other Ice creams and sorbets before).

As I mentioned in my previous entry, I've been so hooked on Pokemon. I picked up Pokemon Diamond for the DS and have recently picked up Pokemon Fire Red and Leaf Green for the Gameboy Advance since the DS will also use the GBA games on it.

My friend bought a Wii for his son and so I bought Pokemon Revolution for it since it'll allow you to battle against another DS player. It'll also download your captured Pokemon from Diamond/Pearl. Eventually I'll catch them all and use them on Revolution.

I'm still planning on getting the Nikon D80 in the near future once I get this car thing out of the way. I hope that it'll be just in time for Spring/Summer when I can get out and get some great pictures.

つづく ( To be continued... )

Almost, but then again...

This time, my friend paid attention to the vehicle and not the dog or the female. Unfortunately, the Mazda was not in the shape that would've been a good purchase. The lifters were knocking, the trunk didn't open and looks like someone hit the dash to get the heater to work. The tabs were 3 months past due and the rear tire had the belts showing.

After all that, we stopped in at a Kia dealer and was looking at the cars when the salesman showed me a '07 Rio for about 14k. I impulsively filled out the forms to see if I could qualify for financing (but I knew that I wouldn't qualify) and had 800 in cash to put down. Well, they wanted some personal references (which usually means that they would've been able to do it).

After getting back home, my friends neighbor said he had a car that he was going to sell for about 2k that he would sell to me for 800. Personally, between having to make monthly payments and just owning a car out right, I prefer to own it out right. Yeah, it's older and run the risk of something breaking down more often, but it'll be mine and not on loan from the bank for me to drive.

つづく ( To be continued... )

I'm ahead of -- K --... so far...

I'm currently 3 posts ahead of -- K --.

Well, one of the vehicles that I'm interested in is still available. I have a good feeling about this one, the body looks like it's in great condition. I was just told she had it stored in a garage. If this pans out, I'll be buying a '95 Mazda 626 that practically looks brand spankin' new.


つづく ( To be continued... )

Out with the old and in with the new old...

Well, it's about time I get another car. This winter has taken it's toll and had to replace the battery twice and because I'm missing part of the muffler (the pipe between the end of the header to the begining of the actual muffler), I got stopped the the police for a loud vehicle.
I'm also worried that the CV shaft is about ready to go, to try and fix all that wouldn't be worth the vehicle considering I only paid about 400 for a rusted body that is just about ready to fall apart at the next hard bump or deep pothole....

I've been looking on Craig's list and found a couple of potential vehicles that would be far better (by 1000 times better) than what I have now. Granted I'll be paying between 3 to 5 hundred dollars more, the alternatives would be worse at a lower price.

Lately I've been really hooked into Pokemon (Diamond, Fire Red, Leaf Green and Revolution), I haven't touched the computer much let alone play Battlefield 2 or Call of Duty 4 within the past Month. At best, the most I've done was to check my email and check for driver updates.

I hope that after all this, in a couple of months, I'll hope to buy a Nikon D80 with a lens kit. I'll just have to save money, cause I can almost taste it because I want it so badly.

つづく ( To be continued... )

It's a new year and I'm still here...

Well, still in Minnesota, braving the cold... My car died so now the new hunt begins to find a replacement car. I do have something else to take my mind off my car...

GOTTA CATCH'M ALL!! Pokemon Diamond. My friends son has Pearl and recently I bought him the Pokemon Battle Revolution for the Wii. I'm still learning how to use it and recently got my DS Pokemon transferred over. Now I can use what I caught to battle on the Wii... but the little stinker cheats. After winning the battles, he turns off the Wii without letting me save.

So, in the past 2-3 weeks, I haven't touched Battlefield 2 or Call of Duty 4. I should get on this weekend since becoming a member of a battle clan.

つづく ( To be continued... )

Work and Movies...

moar funny pictures

It's not Christmas until you watch a couple of TV shows, my must watch list is as follows:

The Night of the Meek (The Twilight Zone)

Original air date: 12/23/1960
Season 2, Episode 47
Stars Art Carney, John Fiedler, Burt Mustin and Robert Lieb

The Night of the Meek (The New Twilight Zone)
Original air date: 12/20/85
Season 1, Episode 30
Stars: Richard Mulligan and William Atherton

It's a Wonderful Life

A Christmas Carol
Starring George C. Scott

Scrooged

A Christmas Story

Also, to have a McDonalds Egg Nog Shake.

つづく ( To be continued... )

Car Batteries... Factory 2nd's?

Can't complain about it, so far I don't see any difference between a New battery and a "Factory 2nd" battery. The only difference is the price. For a brand spankin' new battery is about $65.00 and for a "factory 2nd", it was about $35.00 so about half the price. So far the car has started just fine and the only other difference is that the label was removed. The battery looks brand new.

I ended up having to take back the Jump start kit, you would think, if they sell it in Minnesota, they'd make it so that it would withstand the extreme temperatures. Well, a couple of nights ago, I take it out of the car to start it and the insulation on the cable broke exposing the copper wire strands underneath. On top of that, it didn't start the car. So I took it back, only after a week of owning it. The best thing? I got a full refund, which went to getting the new battery.

Tomorrow is exactly 1 week till Christmas Eve. (Just thought I'd throw that in)

つづく ( To be continued... )

New Bathroom for Samantha...

It's not like I'm grasping at topics, but her new bathroom is really cool. It's a thing from Aspen Pet products called a Booda Cleanstep Catbox. It's larger than the old one and provides privacy. It also limits the litter from being tracked all over the place. I've also been trying different litter that's dust free (somewhat) and not clay. PaPurr Scoopable is really good dust free litter, however because of the little grains of newspaper, she tends to track it all over the place. Right now I'm using litter called World's Best Cat Litter.

It's made from corn...but according to their site, it's safe for kittens as well as juvenile and adult cats. No silica or clay and so far clumps very well, making it easy to dispose. Also it's safe for septic tanks and sewer systems. At first she was reluctant to use her new bathroom and when she finally did (a day later) she was in there for a while. Now that she's getting used to it, I think she likes it. Samantha is really good about using only her bathroom and not going any where else. I never have to worry about the bed or the floor.

つづく ( To be continued... )

The Car and TV Shows...

Well, I guess I don't drive enough to charge the battery to my car. These past few days, the battery has been dead when I go to start my car and with the cold temperatures lately, it'll crank a couple of times then die. I was going to purchase another battery but decided to wait, my friend picked up a trickle charger and I ended up picking up a jumper battery, so I'll get by with those for now till next year and buy a new car.

On Friday after work, I walked over to Target to look at the jumper batteries. At first I was going to wait, then something inside me told me to get it. So here I am, catching the bus with the heavy box and I get to my car, sure enough, it didn't start. The instructions said to charge for 48 hours prior to use, but I needed it right away. Apparently it had a good charge on it and was able to start the car.

Tonight, I was checking to see what was on and saw something about Robert's Chicken. I passed it over and thought it was some kind of thing on the Cartoon network for kids. By the way, lately the cartoons for younger children have been getting weirder and weirder. Like that show called Chowder. Anyway, in case you hit the link for Robert's Chicken, it goes like this:

A DAILY GUIDE TO NOTABLE SHOWS by Whitney Pastorek

11:30-11:45PM
Cartoon, TV-MA

Robert Chicken's Half-Assed Christmas Special

I'm gonna tell you right now, don't watch. You won't like it. I say this because if you didn't already know this program was on — if you're not already a Chicken nugget — you'll find any number of things offensive about stop-motion skits features a dentally obsessed, upwardly mobile Rankin/Bass elf (above); a wicked evisceration of The Chronicles of Narnia (complete with topless witches and decapitated Christ stand-ins); and Stephen King's Misery, starring Peanuts' Linus and Sally. The rest of us will be laughing our sugar plum arses off. —Marc Bernardin

It was on the EW.com site. After reading the description and seeing the picture there, I realized it was Robot Chicken on the AdultSwim network. Apparently the Editor or the copy checker is off for the evening cause they missed this one. Another thought, the guy has never watched Robot Chicken before and never will.

About a month ago, I bought a Food Saver from Sam's Club. I really love it! I can buy steaks and chicken from there or Costco and portion it out. Also I can marinate stuff for grilling and possible preparing lunches for the week.

つづく ( To be continued... )

DS Lite - The new 2 tone Red and Black version

DS Lite - The new 2 tone Red and Black version
Originally uploaded by TekBandit66

Well here is the pictures of my new DS, you can see more with the Nerf Case that I picked up for it on my picture site. I think I've been playing games on this more than when I had a Sega Game Gear.

つづく ( To be continued... )

New DS Lite

Got a new DS, sold my old one which was all black and got the Red and Black DS. I'll post pictures later. Also the case I got for it is a Giant Nerf case like the one I had to cover the DS, but bigger. The new games I got to go along with it are CoD4, Mortal Kombat Ultimate, Jewel Quest, Lego Star Wars: The complete Saga and Nameco classic arcade.

つづく ( To be continued... )

Yume no Naka

I had a dream and in that dream, I dreamt that I was on a smoke and dust filled battlefield, I could barely see if there was any of my comrades still alive. As I looked about I then saw in the distance several dark apparitions, marching through the fog of war as if searching for those warriors who had fallen bravely in battle that deserved their place in heaven.

つづく ( To be continued... )

The Ultimate Clock Radio!

Just received my new clock radio from Creative Labs yesterday and got it unpacked and setup last night. I really like the sound quality but the LED status lights are a little bright to try and fall asleep. I ended up cutting up the protective plastic and painting it black then put it on top of the area where the LED's are. Good 'nuff. Dark enough to fall asleep by, with the radio, falling asleep in stereo is a good thing.

The SoundWorks Radio 730 has Radio Data Service, Alarm Clock as well as a built in Sub-woofer. I looked at the SoundWorks Radio 830HD, but couldn't justify spending over $300 for something like that (yeah, I know... I did spend over $200 for the 730...), just for a couple of stations in HD, I just couldn't do it. If I do, it'll be a regular HD bookshelf stereo system. I'm sure by that time, they'll be more stations broadcasting in HD.

My next major upgrade is looking like my TV, but I still have time before they discontinue broadcasting in Analog, hopefully by the time I do get a new TV, the prices will be a lot lower than they are now.

つづく ( To be continued... )

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