I don't care no more...

No matter what I say, no matter what I do, how hard I work, how thorough I am, no matter how much experience I have it doesn't matter anymore.

つづく ( To be continued... )

Can't escape the past...

On my way home tonight while on the bus, some drunk got on the bus... After a while in his drunken stupor, he slid to the floor of the bus. Now remember, this is Winter so the floor is all wet with melted snow and whatever else like salt...

The bus driver, whom I got to know pretty well, tried to keep an eye on him while she was trying to drive safely. At one point, while he was sitting on the wet floor I asked her to call for a detox pickup. She then turned to him while she was stopped at a bus stop and told the guy to either sit on the chair or get off the bus... The guy was very incoherent and I don't think he understood anything that was being told to him.

After the 3rd or 4th time she told him, he started to butt scoot towards the exit, after about only moving an inch, another passenger came to the front to "assist" this guy out the door and onto the bus stop bench. I finally got up and got on the other side of the guy and held him in an escort hold and walked him off the bus with the other passenger. We got him to the bench and got back on the bus. My friend then called her dispatch to have a squad dispatched for a welfare check on the guy at the bus stop just in case and especially since it was about 25 degrees outside.

At first I didn't want to touch the guy let alone have him side next to me, firstly cause he was so drunk, I'm sure a PBT would've shown the guy was about a 3 or even a 4. secondly, he was drooling like a leaky faucet, thirdly he stunk to high hell... In the end I had to touch him to help another person escort him off the bus. I was very grateful that I always carry hand sanitizer with me but didn't have my fluid blocking leather gloves with me (which I'm going to carry all the time now...)

So, after reading all this, your wondering, what does this have to do with the title and he sounds like a cop. Well... I'm not a cop, never was, but I did work for a police department at a detox center so I've seen this type of people all the time and was trained to handle them. Then again, you or I could say that in a way I was a cop, I was in the police reserves and had most training that Police officers get. Now, I'm just a regular white collar worker in an office or IT department for a major business and don't want to get back to doing that stuff (although, at times I do miss it) but it seems that at times I can't escape it or forget about it when stuff like this happens...

つづく ( To be continued... )

New Year, New Camera!!

Picked up a Nikon D80 with a 18-55 Nikkor lens. The price was pretty good so it basically made it an easy decision...

Hopefully I'll have some pictures up taken with the D80 and eventually I also want to pick up a D90 and keep the D80 as a backup.

つづく ( To be continued... )

The sad state of Music and the lack of lyric writing skills...

I've been meaning to write about his for a while, it's the really sad and desperate state of music now days.

The other week I was listening to the radio on my way home and a song the radio station was playing was from a group that apparently had no skills what so ever. They resorted to using nursery rhymes... Actually, I found the artist and the song...

It's by Korn and the song is called Shoots and Ladders... Apparently Korn has run out of ideas for songs and had to resort to using Nursery rhymes... I can understand doing covers but to start using nursery rhymes... that's pretty sad.

つづく ( To be continued... )

Target Store - Downtown Minneapolis

I went in there to buy a sandwich, which normally they have a pretty good Roast Beef one. After picking one up and walking up to the counter, where a clerk was ringing up another customer, another customer walked up besides me and in front of me. A second clerk walked up to the counter and asked her what she wanted to order.

That just pissed me off, I was there first, I was holding the sandwich in front of me at chest height and at least 2 inches from my chest, ready to pay! Needless to say, I walked away from the counter, threw the sandwich back into the cooler and I mean purposely tossed it back and walked out.

At this time, I'm not going to buy anything from their food court ever again. That was the second time I've received bad service, the first time was when I got back from Colorado and hadn't eaten, so I decided to stop off and pick up something to eat. I picked up a mini Pizza Hut pizza from the warmer and was looking at what I had grabbed and the clerk there yelled "You touch it, you buy it, don't put it back!" That was at the Coon Rapids Target store.

Needless to say, I've never bought any ready made/ready to eat foods from there anymore and now the same for the downtown Minneapolis store. I'm beginning to see a pattern there, low pay, low I.Q. = Bad Service. The thing is, they don't realize people won't return if they have a bad experience and eventually word will get out about the service and eventually they'll be out of a job cause of no business.

つづく ( To be continued... )

World of Warcraft is just the computer version of crack...

I broke down and downloaded the 10 day free trial version of World of Warcraft yesterday, got it loaded and setup, now I've played at least 14 or more hours... On their website, they have a tag of "It's not a game, it's a World" it should be "It's not a game, it's an obsession".

Last time I played a MMO (Massive Multiplayer Online), it was Ultima online. The part that really turned me off to such games was that, like Everquest, you have to pay a monthly or yearly fee to play online. With Battlefield 2, Command & Conquer, Starcraft and World of Warcraft, you pay of the software and that's it, no monthly fees.

つづく ( To be continued... )

I'm drunk with apps for a new phone...

I've just signed up with Twitter... lets see how long that'll last...

つづく ( To be continued... )

Blackberry 9000 Bold

Blackberry 9000 Bold
Originally uploaded by TekBandit66

I had intended to go into town an hour early before I had to start work but ended up over sleeping... I guess I was way excited knowing I was going to get this. I ended up catching the bus at the usual time and getting to my stop about 5 minutes early so I still had time to get money out to buy this.

The clerk at the store wanted to explain some of the features and how to use them but because I was short on time, I just said I'll read the manual. I was able to get my sim card out of my old phone and ended up putting it in upside down. The clerk double check and switched it around. I was good to go!

While at work, in between calls, I browsed the features and looked through the manual to get things setup. I ended up swapping the sim card several times to get my contacts from the Razor to the Bold. I also had to swap the flash memory several times to get my old files over to the new phone...

I'm still learning how to use it and have already found some really handy free apps, especially a free flickr app. Since the Bold has GPS built in, it'll also Geo tag my pictures I take with it. It has a 2.0 mp camera so that'll make it handy when I can't get to my regular camera quickly.

Also for now, I'm keeping the display film till I can get a protective film made specifically for the Bold. I'm also looking at a case by Armor Case, which, if I do get it, I won't need to get the screen protector.

つづく ( To be continued... )

Signs - Doesn't anyone read them anymore?

I've noticed lately that people don't read signs anymore... I've watched people go around a sign that said "Sidewalk Closed, please use the other side". There is a reason that the sidewalk is closed, there's construction going on! So these people prefer to risk their own safety for convenience. At the same time, I've watched people park their vehicles in a no parking/loading zone cause they don't want to pay for parking. What they'll do is turn on their emergency lights and go into the bank to do their deposits or withdrawals... If the parking enforcement people come around they get a ticket and then they'll complain and or even argue for getting one... just take it and pay the fine, it's their fault in the first place for being lazy.

While riding the bus, people are notorious for not reading... on the back door, there is a sign that says watch and wait for the green light, then open the door. They'll get to the bottom step, wait for the bus to stop, then try to push the door open before the light comes on. On some of the buses, there is a sign that says push on the yellow areas... they'll push on the handles then yell "BACK DOOR". Yup, it's a door and yup it's at the back... and yes, everyone on the bus knows what it is...

I've also noticed that people in downtown don't believe in using crosswalks. They would rather cross in the middle of a busy street, stopping traffic or nearly getting hit than to walk an extra 20 or 30 feet than to be safe. Yeah... I'm sure everyone is superman/superwoman and when that 15 ton truck hits them, it's gonna bounce right off of them. I've seen 18 wheelers with a red front end and it wasn't from paint while driving on the interstate... or huge red circles on the highway, that was from hitting a deer, didn't scratch the paint, but couldn't find any pieces of the deer either... So if they can do that to a deer, imagine what a human being would look like...

I'm getting anxious about this Friday, I'll be getting a Blackberry to replace my Razor. Also, finally finished Command & Conquer: Red Alert 3. Towards the end, it got really difficult cause the enemy kept sending wave after wave of units that almost didn't stop. By the time I finished, it was about 4 in the morning. Now to get back to Battlefield 2....

つづく ( To be continued... )

New Game, Command & Conquer: Red Alert 3

Picked up C&C - RA3 this past Friday. Installed it and played a couple of tutorials and dove in on Saturday. On Sunday night, I completed the Soviet campaign on a medium setting. Now it's on to the American campaign and after, the JAPANESE!!

I'm hoping that next week, I'll be getting a new phone. I'm planning on getting the Blackberry Bold (9000). My current phone, a Motorola Razor V3xx, unfortunately, I've dropped it at least 4 times by accident, well actually, I didn't pay attention and dropped it. So the call and signal quality is not as good as it was before.

I also hope to get a Xbox 360...

つづく ( To be continued... )



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つづく ( To be continued... )

Power Tools!!

Just got a new power tool today, a Milwaukee 7" Polisher that does multiple speeds from a hardware store in downtown St. Paul, MN called Seven Corners Hardware that is actually an Ace Hardware Store, but on steroids. The store is better than the larger cookie cutter type hardware stores cause the staff there are very helpful and very knowledgeable.

Last month, I picked up a grinder made by Makita in a 4" diameter, it turns out I made a mistake in getting it cause the discs and accessories are harder to find than a 4 1/2" or 5" grinder. So, next month, I hope to get another Milwaukee tool, a 4 1/2" Variable Speed Sander/Grinder.

I've finally finished the full tower case, used the polisher on it and now the finish is very clear where I could get it smooth. I also tried it on my truck after picking up some rubbing compound and was able to get some of the scratches out, I plan to get the right rubbing compound tomorrow and hopefully get the finish glassy.

つづく ( To be continued... )

New hobbies...

I can say for sure that I have 2 new hobbies... 1st one is my truck. This past weekend I spent the day adding a final coat of Herculiner and then letting it dry for 2 days before putting the mats back in and the roll up soft tonneau cover back on the bed. I must say the results were very good and now the coverage looks even.

2nd hobby is case modding. I guess that falls into the line of re-painting the truck, I had an old case that a co-worker bought from me and took it completely apart and down to metal. I've put 3 coats of primer and so far a base coat and a coat of paint. I've wet sanded the 1st coat and have a lacquer coat of gloss black. I still have the side panels to wet sand yet.

I'm almost finished with adding gold leaf to parts of the case. After adding the last coat of lacquer to the front bezel, I'll be adding gold leaf towards the bottom to accent it.

I also recently got a powder coat gun, now I just have to get a toaster oven so that I can do some parts...

つづく ( To be continued... )

This weekend was a bust...

I wanted to get some painting done but due to the weather, I didn't get much done. I picked up the Herculiner and more paint to mod the old computer chassis. I did get all the metal parts sanded down and paint removed. I also got almost all of the parts primed but there are still about 2 more coats that need to be put on before I can paint.

I thought I'd be able to get it done over the weekend but being a full tower, there's a lot that needs to be prepped before I can paint.

I did order and purchase a powder coating kit, I should have that in by next week... Looking forward to trying it out, on what, I'll figure that out when the time arrives.

つづく ( To be continued... )

Love the Grinder!!!

Power tools, gotta love um! I used my grinder for the first time today to get the paint off the truck so that I could paint. First thing I did was get rid of the tail gate cap that was riveted into the tail gate door. I first tried to drill out the rivets, but that didn't quite work. So I got the grinder out and took out the rivets that way, man was that fast and easy!

After removing that, I swapped out the grinding wheel for a sanding wheel and got to work on removing the paint from the top of the bed rails. Once that was done, I got the primer on and then the paint. Total time spent, 8 hours... I didn't get all of it done and now I need to wash the truck with all that dust from the sanding.

Next weekend, hopefully I'll be able to put on the Herculiner and do the rims.

つづく ( To be continued... )

Funniest thing I've seen so far...

After getting home tonight and walking in to Samantha complaining, I noticed that her entire tail was twitching. Now, for cats, when they are happy, the tails are pointing straight up in the air. The only difference was that not only was it straight up in the air, her tail was twitching very rapidly... it was the funniest thing I've seen yet.

Other than that, for the last month so far, she always has the need to crawl under the covers when I go to bed. She'll try and pull the sheet back so that she can crawl under, then she'll just sit there as happy as can be. I've also noticed that in the middle of the night, she'll end up lying next to me and will try to play with me. The other night, she was grabbing my hand, doing those rabbit kicks and end up trying to take a chunk out of my hand.

Other than that, I'm looking forward this weekend, I'm planning on doing some light body work and painting on the truck. I have a list of the supplies I'll need and on top of that, I'll be touching up the bed liner that I put on this past weekend.

つづく ( To be continued... )

More work on the Truck...

Started on Saturday by scrubbing down the bed of the truck. It pretty much took up the whole day and by the time I was pretty much forced to quit on account of Rain, I had pretty much worn myself out...

This morning, my arms and lower back were aching from scrubbing the bed to get the top coat off so that the Herculiner would adhere to the bed. By the time I got out there to finish the job, it was about 10 in the morning. After working on the front rims a bit and debating on putting on the front mud guards, I finally started wiping down the bed with the cleaner for the final prep for applying the bed liner.

The first coat took about 1 - 2 hours to apply. The 2nd coat took about half the time. At this time, there are still a few spots I need to touch up however I was pretty wiped out from all that work. Even with the gloves and trying to be careful not to get the liner on me, I ended up with a couple splatter marks on my face and several spots on my hands.

I think part of it was from the chemicals that is in the bedliner which is the same stuff I had to use to clean and prep the surface called Xylene. Pretty nasty stuff to be breathing in, I didn't have a really good resprirator which would've made a big difference, but at least the cheaper one help prevent me from breathing in the dust.

Tomorrow, I'll have to try and get up early so that I can put the tonneau cover back on, only to have to take it off again later when I re-paint the top of the bed walls. I'll also be getting bed rail covers so I'll have to take them off again to put those on. You must be asking yourself, why paint if I'm just going to cover it up, well... if I repaint it, I'll be able to get the rust off and keep it off by re-painting, also I'll be filling the holes that were left from the previous owner when they drilled into the bed rails to hold the topper that was on there. Oh, and I got rid of the topper cause it was warped and missing the keys to lock it and also because the shocks to hold up the topper door were shot.

つづく ( To be continued... )

The last week in review...

I finally got the Tonneau cover that I was hoping to get from Fleet Farm.  I also picked up a Makita 4" Angle Grinder so I can do some body work on the truck.  There are about 3 areas I want to get before winter.  I've already painted the 2 rear rims of my truck and hopefully will get to the front 2.  I've also put on the rear mud guards and will put on the front 2 this weekend.

I'm also planning on preparing the bed of the truck so that I can put on a bed liner by Herculiner instead of putting in a drop in liner which will be better in the long run.    I've already replaced both calipers and after this, I'll be taking a break of sorts from upgrading the truck.

つづく ( To be continued... )

Workin' on the Truck

Finally got the replacement front calipers on the truck. I had decided a while ago the last time I tried to bleed the brake lines to replace the front calipers cause they were so old and one of them had the bleeder screw broken off. Before I replaced them, I decided to paint them, originally I was going to paint them red but because of the current rims and because you wouldn't be able to see them very well, I went with black. The original calipers looked just that, if they were the original calipers that came with the truck when it was first put together.

The new calipers are Raybestos loaded calipers with super stop brake pads that I bought at Checker Auto Parts and replaced the bleeder valves that came with the calipers with Russell Performance Speed Bleeder valves that I ordered through Summit Racing Equipment. I have to say, I was extremely impressed with Summit, not only did my order arrive in 3 days by UPS Ground, they also gave me stickers and a really nice hat.

For the next thing on my truck, I'm looking at a Soft tonneau cover by Lund. There is a new Fleet Farm that opened close by in Circle Pines, MN which makes it much closer than having to drive to the other one in Brooklyn Park, MN. I also want to get new mud guards that they have over there... looks like Fleet Farm is going to be my upgrade shop of choice now. It used to be Checkers, but when I went to return my old calipers for the Core Charge refund, they Clerk there named Greg (He's in his mid to late 50's, salt and pepper beard and moutache, glasses, about 5'9" to 5'10" in height) gave me a bit of trouble cause I purchased the new calipers at a different store after being told that I can go to any store to get my core charge back.

I won't be going back to that store located in Coon Rapids, MN. There are other stores that I can go to instead or order parts online. If I order online, I may have to wait an extra day or two, but it'll be cheaper and I won't be given a hard time about the core charge...

There are a couple more things in addition to the Genesis Roll Up Tonneau Cover by Lund that I want to get, the other things are bed rail caps for the sides, front and tail. I think I'll order them from LMC Truck cause its cheaper there. If they have it at Fleet Farm for about the same price, I just may have to get them there...

Well, Fall is aproaching a little early. Last night it was a bit chilly outside when I went for a smoke. There was frost advisory last night up in Northern Minnesota and again tonight. Also there are other signs... insects are finding a way into the house... So far I've caught 2 spiders about the size of quarters. On the bright side, the other day, I finally saw a humming bird flying around and about a month ago, a Hawk landed on the lawn about 20 feet from me. The hawk was trying to catch something in the tree when it landed on the ground cause it missed. It looked at me then flew off.

つづく ( To be continued... )

You must be wondering...

About the picture I have of myself. Well... here it is... About 10 to 15 years ago, while working as a Assistant Manager for a restaurant, a friend of mine once called me the "Iceman". This was because of my lack of emotion when something would happen. Most people would panic or get upset or whatever (especially when you spill a drink in the lap of a Vice President for a top travel agency)... There were other incidents but each time, I would not panic or show any emotions. So he would call me the "Iceman".

Later on, back in '95 when I worked at a Computer City, another friend formed a group called the TekLoRdz. I had actually suggested the name of the group after watching the series called TekWar. I then took on the Handle of TekBandit, since then, it's stuck with me since. I picked up the image of SubZero from Mortal Kombat because it seemed like a good fit for several reasons I won't go into detail...

I'm looking forward to working on the truck this weekend. I bought new calipers and hope to have them on by the end of the day... I hope it won't take that long to switch them out. Personally, I don't see it taking very long since I used to work on sport bikes when I owned a Yamaha FZR 600. That'll knock that off the list of needed repairs before I can work on the appearance of the truck. I still have to get the brake lines/hoses replaced, the shocks and some real light engine work.

I also want to upgrade my computer again... I'm looking at a new motherboard that will take the new DDR3 memory at a bus speed of 1600 also a new video card with the new PCI-e 2 slot and new joysticks for my flight sims... So much money, so little of it and so little time...

つづく ( To be continued... )

Minnesota's Farmer's Market in downtown Minneapolis

It's a little late, but it has already started. The Farmer's market in Downtown Minneapolis on Thursdays. All the fresh produce and other great finds. When they have it, I try to make sure I hit up the Saint Agnes stall and pick up some bread. They have the best Zuccini, pumpkin and Banana bread as well as turnovers and danishes.

つづく ( To be continued... )