Fear the Crab

The last couple of weeks have been a fucking hell. Not just any kind of hell, a fucking hell, with no protection. And it was all my fault, so that’s why I’m bitter, because I could have prevented it had I exercised a bit more caution, or more appropriately, anal retentiveness.

First it was discovered at the end of March that I had misplaced all my W-2s for the 2003 work year, plus the Form 1099-INTs that the banks send out with all the interest accumulated. I don’t know how I misplaced it, all I know is that it was all together with the Federal 1040 forms and then it disappeared. It used to be on the dining room table, but then my dad says he told me to take it back and hold onto it until he was ready to process them. Unfortunately, I don’t remember if I did take it back or if I left it on the table. So I turn my room inside out, looking through stacks of loose papers and books and other knick-knacks. I look through my old files, my old folders, the closet, my brother’s room, his closet, all the folders and files and books and binders and shelves and even under the bed. Nada.

So I had to do the next best thing. I had to call up all my employers and ask for copies of W-2s. The Office and The Lab were pretty easy, since it seems I’m not the first to lose a W-2, so they had copies readily available. DFS was a bit more stressful, because I had to call the main office in San Francisco to request a W-2, only to discover that I needed to fax my request in. So I had to wait. I didn’t know how long it would take, so I began preparations to file for an extension.

While this was happening, my laptop died. I mean it died. The hard drive failed, I think for a possible number of reasons. I’d been using the laptop every day for the past 2 years, so perhaps it was its time. Laptops are notorious for placing hard drives next to CPUs, so perhaps the high heat output negatively affected the disks. I was downloading and installing Visual Studio .NET (a legitimate copy from school), and I had forgotten to defragment my hard drive prior to that, so perhaps the disk wrote into some bad sectors, and upon boot it failed to read. So many reasons, or perhaps all of them, contributed to my laptop dying.

Ordinarily it wouldn’t be too bad. Unfortunately, the laptop crash occured at a crucial moment in my school life. I use my laptop to do my assignments, where I download applicable software to run my programming assignments. The crash meant that I no longer had a computer to program, and I wasn’t about to try to dload and possibly corrupt my desktop. So I had to scramble around trying to find someone else who either had the software I was using, or was willing to let me install it temporarily.

Needless to say, it’s been a stressful two weeks.

However, at the end of the two weeks, things worked out. The W-2s came in fast, allowing me to file in time and avoid having to submit an extension. Getting a new hard drive was simple, I just had to go to ByteWare and buy one. My professor offered his computer for me to test my programs on, so that went well.

Repairing my computer was a trial. It was the first time I had ever done something to a computer that involved the hard drive, so I didn’t know what to expect. Taking out the old hard drive was deceptively simple, so simple that at first I was trying to do it the hard way. I tried to remove the disks through the keyboard, when in fact all I had to do was open up a side panel and slide the carriage out. Pop the new disk in, and prepare to partition, format and install the OS.

Partitioning was easy. Formatting was easy, albeit long. But installing the OS was tedious. I heard from a reputable source that I couldn’t use my recovery CD that I got from Dell that came with the laptop. So I pulled a copy of WinXP from one of my friends, used the product key, and installed the OS. Then of course, I had to install all the patches, especially Service Pack 1. But after I downloaded it from the update site, it told me that the product key I had was invalid. Apparently MS put in checks to ensure that only legal copies can update their software, by comparing the product key to a known list of copies or pirated versions. So this meant I had a working copy of XP pro, but I couldn’t install any of the security patches needed to cover up the many holes.

I then discovered that my “reputable source” was an idiot. My recovery CD has a legal copy of WinXP Pro specifically for my laptop, and restores it to factory specs. I didn’t even have to enter the product key. But I had to delete the partition, reformat the hard drive and reinstall the OS. I had to do this three times. The first time, I saw the message about the bad key. The second time, I figured maybe I entered the key wrong, so I reinstalled, and that didn’t work. The third time was the final, after my enlightenment by more wizened members of the computer community.

Updates were a cinch, although long, since I had a lot to catch up on. I also didn’t want to install them all at once, because sometimes that has nasty side effects. So I was downloading them one by one, installing each after I got them, and rebooting my computer. Took forever. I spent the whole day getting my laptop back on track.

And then I had to reinstall all the programs and files that I had accumulated over the past 2 years. This was a bit easy, and I cannot stress the importance of regular backups. Had I not saved many of my files to CD, I’d be lost. I suppose if there’s nothing important on the computer, backups aren’t necessary. Like I said, though, I use my laptop for my assignments, and I’ve started to make it a practice to save each one to disk for later retrieval, or as it so happened, in the event of a hard drive head crash. Even on my desktop, I’ve saved photos of friends, stuff that I wrote, even certain legal downloaded applications like ZoneAlarm and virus scanners (only because it’s a bitch to search the web to find them again). I’ve thought about saving stuff like the web pages I created, but if RoadRunner’s servers ever crash, it might be an opportunity to simply remake my web page from scratch. I don’t know. Jury’s still out on that one.

Anyway, I just finished getting my laptop back to “normal” level. It’s not quite the same as when I first got it, but that’s good, because after this reinstall, I only have the programs I want on there, not all the bundled software that usually comes out of the box. In fact, I should have done that for my desktop. It’s not too late to try, although it’d take a couple of days to backup current files and reformat/reinstall the discs. I need to check what reinstallation discs I have, though. Don’t want to start formatting and find out I don’t have that DVD player software anymore.

This morning I dreamt that I had a 10-inch fat centipede in my shoe, while my foot was still in it. I felt something inside, so I took my shoe off and emptied it, and this monster of a centipede fell out. It was dead, according to my dream, so I had no fear of being bit, but it was a disturbing sight and I felt very… uncomfortable. Chills and goosebumps, that sort of thing.

I went over to Maile’s classmate’s house, because the two of them were going to study for their upcoming final. I busied myself with writing notes for my 211 final, which is on Thursday. It was an interesting day over there. The house is loaded with animals, for there is one dog and five cats. Three of the cats are only kittens, so there was a lot of exploration going on in the living room. Those cats seemed really interested in my Cancer Man cap, though it was probably because of the scents from Maile’s house.

While there, I happened to chance upon someone else’s wireless signal. It was very faint, and probably from one of the neighbors. It was the first time I had ever done that, and I don’t really plan to do it again. For one thing, it’s usually an unprotected signal, meaning that someone, if they really wanted to, could hack into my computer. Not that there’s anything important on my laptop, but a hack is a hack all the same. Anyway, it was a rather interesting experience.

I tried to help Maile with her history paper, but my head was feeling stuffy, like my brain wanted to spill out through my eye sockets, so I only managed to write two paragraphs. I was feeling a bit lethargic after the outing, and that didn’t help much. Hopefully tomorrow will see me a bit more chipper.

I went to Costco and bought a spindle of 100 CD-Rs. It was uber cheap, considering the sheer amount of disks. I would have preferred CD-RW, the kind that you can rewrite to (I’m not entirely sure if you can erase, but it must be possible), but the only pack they had there was a 20-pack for about $25. It wouldn’t have mattered either way, because this time around I managed to burn two disks in three tries, and the wasted disk was only because I had forgotten that I only needed one disk burnt, not two. This time, on the advice of Kyrol, I set the recorder to a lower speed. It took longer, but the results far outweigh any time inconvenience. There were no problems this time, so I guess the speed of the recorder makes a big difference.

I washed my truck today. It hasn’t been a week yet, but today is pretty much the only day out of the week that I have a lot of free time. It was worth it, too, because at the same time I washed Maile’s car. We put Rain-X on both vehicles, too.

And because I washed my car, it rained. It’s still raining now. I must remember to buy a chamois cloth when next I get a chance. I searched for the one we had at home, but my dad informed me that it was pretty much deteriorated beyond help. While I’m at it, I may as well buy one of those sponge mitts that you put over your hand. I didn’t wax my car this time because it still has that factory wax, and people generally recommend I wax it once a month.

Went over to Maile’s house to hang out and spend some time with her. We went shopping for an office chair for her room, but the only one we liked was sold out. Instead we had to settle for some ink cartridges for her printer, and overall it was a disappointing venture. The reason we need a new chair is because the old one is, well, old, and we wanted a chair that was lower than the desk itself, so we could sit more comfortably. Right now the armrests on the old chair get in the way of the keyboard panel, which slides out but hits the top of the armrests.

We watched a bit of Moulin Rouge because it was playing on HBO, but we missed the beginning. It was pretty good, though after watching it I got a headache because I was staring at the television for so long. We ate dinner at Ricado’s; both of us having the chicken piccata and I had a glass of red wine. I forget the name of the brand, but it began with Bolla.

While we were out, it seems Keoni was using Maile’s computer, even though he’s been told countless times to not do that. We can tell he’s been using it because he doesn’t turn off the computer, and before we left I had shut down everything. He only turns off the monitor, thinking that nobody would notice. If there’s one bright spot in that bit of news, it’s that he doesn’t just push the power button to shut off the computer. Doing that is a big no-no amongst users, because it doesn’t allow the OS to properly close. I mean, you can do it, but it’s preferred you not.

I’m really afraid that he’ll not only break Maile’s computer, but he’ll download or open up some virus that will cause havoc later on down the road. Given his stupid lack of sense, he wouldn’t think twice about opening unknown applications or visiting porno sites and getting the hard drive infected. We could use a password to start the computer, but that really complicates things and doesn’t solve the primary issue of him just not using it when he’s not supposed to. I think the only viable solution here would be to duct tape him to his bed and close the door.

All in all, besides that one dark and dreary moment, the day was a good day.

Work was interesting, but only because of the conversations I was able to have. There was a little toddler boy who really really wanted a mini-recorder keychain, so badly in fact that he tried to break the glass door with his tiny fist when his mom finally dragged him out crying.

I got my first homework assignment for ICS 211. I had to make a web page, which will be the starting point for all those Java applets we are planning to make. The simplicity of this assignment is lulling me into a false sense of security; I’m trying to force myself to believe that it’s not going to be a cakewalk, just so I can take it seriously.

As far as ICS 241 goes, I finally managed to complete the first assignment. I don’t think it’s 100% correct, but at least I did what I could to the best of my understanding.

I helped Maile try and figure out why her printer isn’t displaying its status window. At first I thought it was because XP was installed over the printer drivers, but after I removed and reinstalled the drivers, that darn status window still didn’t show up. The printer still works, though.

Tonight’s UH football game:
Eastern Illinois – 36
Hawaii – 61

Today was the first day of instruction for me, and it went as how I had expected. The math class (ICS 241 – Discrete Mathematics) is as fast-paced as 141, but at least this time the professor takes some time to explain just exactly how we’re supposed to solve things. It’ll take a while to see how well I’ll actually do in the class, however.

ICS 211 seems the same as 111 last semester; highly instructional and step-by-step. They don’t expect us to know everything, which is a big relief, and they’ll concentrate on actually teaching us something we’ll use later. The professor has a semi-thick Spanish accent, but is still understandable, and looks to be a lot of fun. The odds are looking good that I’ll do well in this one, provided I concentrate on working.

I also figured out how to work my wireless internet card, thanks to the helpful staff at the IT department. I downloaded some updated drivers and configured the card as per the University network. It seems my firewall then became the root cause of the problem, as it was blocking the signals for some strange reason. I told Maile that it seemed as though I had to do a little ritual each time I wanted the card to work; disable the firewall, disable the LAN, disable the wireless network connection, enable the wireless network connection, dance the “macarena,” and attempt to log on. I still don’t know if those are the right steps to do, but perhaps if I dance to the Bee Gee’s song “You Could Be Dancing” things might work better.

I may have to get a new car. My engine’s making strange noises, and this time around I’m not sure if it’s still the air conditioner, or some other problem. Regardless, the cost of repairs is starting to add up, and perhaps it’s time to move on. I can’t believe I even have to consider this, though, as Toyotas are generally known to be low-maintenance. I wonder if it’s because I have to drive into town, in heavy traffic, practically every single day. If I do get a new car, I am faced with the dilemma of what to actually get. Do I want another sedan? Should I go for something more “manly” and get a truck? Or something in-between, like an SUV? I also don’t know if I should stick with Toyotas, which tend to be among the more pricey of imports, or switch to Nissan, whose cars seem to have a good track record in regards to maintenance (from what I’ve seen and heard; many of my relatives own Nissans). The only thing I know for a fact is that I’m not going to buy American, as I have had bad experiences with American-made cars. European is definitely out of the question, too.

Well, for now, that’s just something to consider. I still have more important things to concern myself with, such as the homework that’s due next week.

Didn’t do too much today except pretend I was a mushroom. The temperature in my room kept that daydream to a minimum, however.

I ate at Stuart Anderson’s with my family and relatives. I had the whiskey NY steak with petite lobster tail and Texas shrimp. I couldn’t finish it all, what with the salad and Wagon Wheel appetizers. The leftovers will be tomorrow’s dinner. My mom and dad shared a prime rib combo with fried prawns (or something like that). My aunt and uncle used my dad’s coupon for a “dinner for two” consisting of prime rib and shrimp, with that chocolate cake that sinks to the bottom of your stomach. Maile also had the prime rib and fried prawns, if I remember correctly. What with so much prime rib, and my own plate overflowing with food, it’s hard to remember what everyone had.

I discovered something strange about the wireless internet card I bought yesterday. When I tried to run the PC card settings, it told me there were no drivers for it. It’s strange because according to Windows, I have four different drivers for the card. I tried checking online for any updates to the drivers, but I couldn’t find any in the places I looked (Windows update, ORiNOCO site). I will wait until school starts to talk to the IT department and see what they can do, otherwise I’ll contact tech support for answers. It looks like the first day of school will be a long one for me.

Nothing much happened today. I bought The Transformers: The Movie DVD, and justified the purchase by observing that the video I have is grainy and the color contrast is less than acceptable.

Turns out my desktop computer is still acting slow. The defrag and cleanup/scan seemed to have helped some, but the desktop is otherwise affected by some unknown factor. This only goads me towards buying a new computer. I need to wait until after I pay for my tuition though, and it looks like this semester’s costs will run me a little over a thousand dollars, not including books. I’m only going to take two classes, too. If it seems like an unreasonable amount of money, you’re right. The university, however, considers me a post-baccalaureate student, which is a level that is between undergrad and graduate. I also register last, and am ineligible for financial aid. This is the price of pursuing a second degree, but there are some benefits that counteract the high cost. For example, I only have to take those courses that I am interested in and that count towards my final goal of an ICS degree. I don’t have to fulfill any cores or accumulate a specific amount of credits. It may seem difficult, but hopefully the end result will open up new paths for me in life.

Not much happened today. I did some desc work on CheesyMUD and made a few mobiles, but that’s about it. Some would say I’m barely doing enough to warrant my immortal position, but I would disagree. Later.

At work it was a slow day. Nothing exciting occured, and the only notable thing worth mentioning was that Irene claims to not snore when she sleeps. I asked her how she can say that when she’s asleep and likely can’t hear herself snore. She says it’s because Tolkien never said anything. I think he’s being polite.

I’m trying to figure out why my desktop is so slow. By slow I do not mean machine speed, but rather the annoying fact that if it’s left on for a while, it will actually “act” slower. It’s as though something is chewing up all the processor time and it’s clogging up the pipes like a garlic chili dinner down the toilet. Among the clues that tell me this is the fact that my system clock gets slower and slower, to the point that it could be midnight in reality, but the computer will think it’s 2230 hours. The processor sounds like it’s regurgitating leftover spiced ham, and as it’s doing that the mouse is ill-responsive like a needle skipping over a broken record. I’ve removed some programs I no longer needed, one of which being ProgressQuest, a “hands-free” type of game that runs on its own. My suspicions fall greatly upon that cheeky monkey. I removed it, and after a reboot and disk cleanup/scandisk/degfrag I’m going to let it “sit” for a while and see if that fixes the problem. A deep gurgling in my stomach tells me that’s not the end of the problem, however. We shall see.

Today’s Invader Zim episode(s):
Megadoomer
Lice
Germs
Dark Harvest