N'awlins at heart

Monday, October 22, 2007

That's right kids, lock up your junk.

Sunday W1 and I decided to have James Coney Island for lunch. Traveling up Westheimer, we got to a red light. It happened to be right next to a Starbucks. As we're waiting for the light to turn a guy pulls up and parks in an Acuta. This thing was the definition of hooptie. There were different colored patches of paint all over it. The front fender looked like someone sprayed it with buckshot (although I'm pretty sure the holes were drilled to pop out a dent of some sort). It sounded like it was only running on 2 cylinders. So you know I had to crack up laughing when the guy got out and set his car alarm. That's right, you read that correctly.

Not a lot has been going on. My boss was out all last week and today, so work is dragging by (since I'm not doing much of it). Evenings and weekends have been spent watching Sopranos. (Yeah, I know, 1999 called, they want their TV series back). So we're a little behind the times.

I did get my green LED's installed on my bike the weekend before last. They look really good, and match the ones in the truck. I hooked them to the battery with a switch and fuse so I can keep them on when the bike is parked. And being LED's they don't drain a lot of power. Speaking of the bike, it is in desperate need of a washing, which I must do before Lone Star. Can't have family and friends visit and see my bike all dirty. We just can't have that. Maybe I can talk W1 into throwing on a bikini and then take a few pictures of her washing it. ;)

However it gets washed, I think my truck and "she who..." also need a good washing. Boy, lots of neglect going on here as of late. Our poor vehicles. Ha ha ha. I can't really think of anything else exciting that has been going on. Houston traffic is, well, Houston traffic. I can't really complain about it because I'm tired of complaining about it. Which also means you are probably tired of hearing about it.

W1 and I did have a wonderful lunch Saturday too. I think it is due to missing home. You know how they have to tubes of crescent rolls that pop when you open them? Well, they also make a "french loaf". So we cooked a loaf of the bread and deep fried (Fry Daddy baby, represent!) some shrimps. The we made shrimp po boys. They were delicious!

Okay, that's all you get for now. Figured I had to post something after Chia called me out. Ha ha ha. We love and miss you all.

Friday, October 12, 2007

Sometimes I am a wicked, wicked person.

Co-workers. They are the topic of discussion today. And not the one who blamed me for loseing something he had on his desk the whole time, a different one. This guy needs medication. Seriously people. He is MOODY!!! And I almost have him figured out. He feeds on drama. If there is no drama in his life, he feels unneeded. I can tell if he's in a mood when I walk in. If he is already here, he will have his headphones around his neck. When I walk in, if he is in one of his moods, he will immediately put them on to act like he's listening to music. This (I guess) is my sign that he doesn't feel like talking. If he does want to talk, he will immediately start talking. Unfortunately for him his memory also seems to be bad. He doesn't remember telling me when they lady from the other side of the lab comes to talk (and boy can she talk) he will pretend he's listening to music and can't hear her, even if he doesn't have music playing. I can only assume he does the same to me. But the next day I will come back from lunch and he'll act all sad because I didn't invite him. I should tell him "Hey man, I asked, your music must have been too loud".

The other ting I have discovered about this individual, is that it totally drives him when he feels someone else is getting a better deal than he is. No matter what it is, although it usually applies to work. Which brings us to the reason for this post. Since yesterday I have been testing a video card with a new driver (like that's new news). One of the tests is to "play" an online game called Second Life. It's pretty boring actually, but you run into a lot of Furries. (I'm not even getting all into that again). Well, anyone who has a Windows Based computer has seen the infamous Blue Screen of Death (BSOD). The card and driver I'm testing seems to enjoy bringing up this BSOD. So, this morning, my boss said to spend an hour trying to reproduce the error. (Apparently my coworker heard that over his "music"). I worked on it for about an hour, then headed to lunch. When I returned I went to my bosses office to fill him in. He told me to try a few other things. So I went back into the lab and started playing, um, I mean, testing again. This brings us to the earlier comment. If he feels I am getting to play a game all day, but he has to actually "work" he is furious. It didn't take long before the "God, it must be nice to get to play Second Life all day". When I did not respond it became "Wow, that's the longest hour of testing I've ever seen". (Because he was not in my bosses office when I was told to try other things.) And I once again ignored him because it really wasn't any of his business what I was doing. The he moved to the "Boy, I'd love to trade jobs with you."

Now, unfortunately I was not thinking fast enough. It took me 30 seconds to remember he did that same test the day before I did on a different system with the same card and driver. The best response would have been "Well, you just tested the same thing the day before I did. Had you done your F-ing job properly you would have found this issue, and in turn would have been PLAYING SECOND LIFE ALL DAY". But by them he went back into his own little world.

So 4:00 this afternoon I finally finished my testing of the game. When we find issues, we now have to write them up, email them to a coworker (peer) then after they give their opinion, we submit it to our boss. I sent it to someone who normally doesn't look too hard at them. Just because it was a long and confusing issue, and I knew my boss wanted it before he left for the day. Once that was submitted I moved on to the other issue I found during my testing. It had nothing to do with the game, it was an error with Direct X rendering on a website.

So, 5:15 rolls around and the boss leaves for the day. Not 5 minutes later the original coworker breaks out his personal laptop, and starts playing World of Warcraft, thinking he's going to spend the rest of his day goofing off. I guess that would make him feel less cheated by me. Who knows? But you all know I ain't goin out like dat! So, as soon as I finished writing up my other issue, guess who I chose to review it? That's right. No World of Warcraft for you! Get to work! Ha ha, the only thing better than sticking the knife in is twisting it...

Thursday, October 11, 2007

Time to freak everyone out.

A friend of mine posted this and this on New Orleans Metroblog. It's amazing what you can find out on the internet. As far as the rotten neighbor site, before anyone asks, no, WE did not post the info on Carlton, but I'm glad someone did. It did say it was an ex resident and was posted September 3, 2007. At a little after 2:AM. (I wonder if they just got back from buying Meth from him.) So it is pretty recent.

I guess that's it for now. Gotta get back to work.

Tuesday, October 09, 2007

Too much time on my hands.

Well, I'm not sure what to write about, but I definitely have time to write. The test I'm currently doing requires me to reinstall Windows about 5 times. I can't complain though, I get paid by the hour.

I did make a bright move today. After lunch I was craving a little afternoon coffee. So I went ahead and poured a cup. Added cream and sugar, and turned to answer a question. When I turned back, you all know what happened. Yep, I knocked the entire cup over. And not just over, I coated my keyboard, mouse, and a nice 20" widescreen monitor. I was actually surprised because I had the system in "hibernate" mode. There were no sparks, and no smoke. So I wiped down the monitor, threw away the keyboard and mouse, and went about my business. When I plugged in a new keyboard and mouse, I woke the system from "hibernation" and it ran normally. But don't try this at home kids. I doubt you all have boxes and boxes of keyboards and mice at your disposal.

Of course it was some hazelnut blend someone brought in so my entire desk now smells like hazelnuts. But I guess it could be worse. What if it was cabbage or something? Ew, is all I can say.

Not a whole lot else going on. Lets see. My friend Russell brought in some cleaning supplies so I can get the grime out of my tires and shine the chrome on the bike. So I check my email when I get in this morning and he tells me he brought these things in. The very next email I read is from the lady in the hardware side of our lab saying "We are being audited today to ensure we don't have unauthorized chemicals in our lab". Nice! I think I was set up! Ha Ha. No biggie, we never do so they just fly through here, make sure we have a sign pointing to the fire estinguisher, and walk out the other door.

Well, that's about it I guess. Talk to you all soon.

Sunday, October 07, 2007

If the cork don't fit, you must acquit. *

* Props to W1 for the title.

A few months ago, W1 and I were in Randalls making groceries. We wanted to get a bottle of wine so we picked up a Syrah from BV Coastal Estates. Upon opening the wine I noticed it looked a little too cloudy. Something just wasn't right. It smelled, looked and yes tasted a little sour. So I picked up the bottle to get a better look. Being a glass short I was able to get a good look. There was some soft of slime, coating the inside of the bottle in patches. It was nasty.

We kept it on the kitchen counter planning to return it, and over time gave up and just threw it away. Fast forward... So, 2 weeks ago we went to Randalls and picked up a couple of different bottles. 2 of which happened to be BV Coastal Estates Syrah. When I opened the first bottle, I had the same issue. When I poured a glass it was cloudy, smelled funny... Luckily we also had a bottle of Blackstone Syrah so I opened that. Not wanting to be trash digging guy, I took the cork from the Blackstone wine and put it in the BV Coastal Estates bottle. The next day, W1 brought the 2 bottles back, and showed the manager the slime in the bottle. He gave her a refund and they chatted for a bit about how gross that stuff was.

Fast forward to last week. We are once again at Randalls and decide to stop by the wine section. I start laughing at the fact that there is a bottle of wine on the shelf, with all the others, and the cork is half way out. And come to think of it, it is about a glass low. That's when W1 pointed out the huge "B" (Blackstone's logo) on the top of the cork in the BV Coastal Estates Syrah. Yes people, you guessed it. Not only did they put the unopened (and probably sour) bottle back on the shelf, but they also put out the already opened, obviously tainted, wrong cork half stickin out, slime lingering on the inner walls, funky, sour ass wine out. To be sold with the rest.

Amazing I tell ya! Truly amazing.

Wednesday, October 03, 2007

And one for you!

Sorry it’s been so long, I wanted to teach Kenny a lesson. Yeah, that was it. See Kenny, how does it feel to check someone’s blog every day and see they haven’t updated? Um, yeah, that was it. I sure showed him.

Where to begin… Work has been insane for the last 2 weeks. I finally got on a new project this week, only to be pulled back to the bad one to retest a few things.

All in all things have been going well. We had a great visit to New Orleans last weekend and had fun with everyone. And a little note for Chia, the food at Deanie’s is great, but the service does suck. And that was before the storm. And let me stress how bad it sucks. It really does. These people act like they are being forced to serve you food, and treat the customers like crap. But wow, really good seafood. However, I thoroughly enjoyed NOFS! I just wanted some seafood cooked the way it should be. And I was able to get an abundance of it. Throughout the whole visit, actually. Although I probably clogged a few arteries, it was well worth it. God I miss that food. One thing they don’t have down in Texas is properly cooked seafood. I’ve been spoiled living in Louisiana for so long.

Saturday night we went out in a group. Almost a gang. I think we had The Warriors outnumbered. Pam was kind enough to take some pictures, but I’m too lazy to post them right now. (At least I’m honest.) We started out at The Old Point Bar. And it was so nice to be back. It just felt familiar. Not to go into the whole “Cheers” cliché, but it is nice when everybody knows your name. After a few hours we headed downtown. Once we arrived downtown, we did the Molly’s tour I guess. We went to Molly’s on Decatur (That looks like I spelled it wrong.), then headed up Bourbon. We ended up at Molly’s on Toulouse. Both really cool bars. I love the Juke Box at Molly’s on Toulouse.

Jumping around to keep things interesting, the drive in Friday was definitely interesting as always. We were making good time, until other people on the road did what other people on the road do. So, somewhere near the Opelousas exit traffic came to a halt. Apparently someone zigged when they should have zagged. Result, carnage. Ok, not quite that bad, but interesting to look at. Enough to make me regret packing the suitcase with the camera in the back of the car. A white pickup truck hit an 18 wheeler so hard, it knocked the 2 back axles off. By the time we got there the 18 wheeler was driving up the shoulder dragging it’s trailer along the ground. A third car was involved but it was smashed beyond recognition. Once again I was glad we had just stopped for gas. Had we waited we would have 1) Been in the accident, or 2) ran out of gas sitting in traffic.

What was that? Looks like I’ve jumped again. This morning W1 woke up feeling terrible. And no, we did not go out drinking last night. I didn’t feel all that great either, mainly exhausted. We both decided we probably needed a few more hours of sleep. We called in, and decided to try resting. Around noon I woke up and felt a bit better. W1 on the other hand was still feeling like crap. I went out and got her sinus medicine, and basically put her back to sleep. Once she was out, I felt rather motivated. I went ahead and installed her headlights. The headlights I tried to get her for Christmas, which gave me nothing but headaches, had been once again ordered. And after more issues, they finally arrived last Thursday. The day before our NOLA trip. It really didn’t take that long, and they look great. Next stop, rims! Ha ha ha.

Ok kids, I guess that’s it for tonight. New South Park and you know I’m an addict.