Anachostic

The Quickening

Posted by anachostic on December 17, 2009 No comments

So I’m at the 7th and final stage of grieving: acceptance. I have accepted that Microsoft Money is gone and will not be coming back, so I must move to Quicken. It’s not without trepidation that I purchase Quicken and try to recapture the enjoyment of tracking my finances with a new program. I had used Quicken a long time ago and was not as pleased as I was with MS Money, which is probably why I’ve used Money for over 10 years.

So I’ve gotten Quicken Deluxe 2010 installed and the first thing that pisses me off is that it has put icons on my desktop. Not just one icon, which is tolerable, but 4. One for the application and three sales pitches. This is a terrible first impression. One shortcut is to a co-branded version of FreeCreditReport dot COM – one of the biggest scams out there. One is for their BillPay service, at $10/mo. Even Wachovia, a premier bank, only charges $6/mo for integrated BillPay. Unless Quicken doesn’t have 2-way integration with Wachovia, which is practically a dealbreaker for me. MS Money had it. (Turns out, yes, Quicken does support online payments through Wachovia) The final offer is for a typical rewards credit card provided by Chase.

First Launch: I am prompted to “Get Started”. I have to enter my banks and their login info so Quicken can download transactions and whatnot. I’m mildly impressed. In MS Money, this was a separate step after setting up accounts. It picks up my Wachovia account without a problem. Then I do my Chase account. Oops, there was a problem. It says to try again later. So I think, “Maybe it should be entered as a WaMu account, since that’s where it was originally opened.” Nope. Not found there. It’s later now, so I try again under Chase. Quicken crashes. Ok, my impression of this program is sinking fast.

Second Launch: I get all of my accounts set up. And I am quite impressed with how well it handled ALL of my accounts. If I had a login for it, Quicken handled it. I got my loans entered and the wizard was pretty easy to work through. I browse through the preferences and set a few things to my liking, like two-line registers. Now, I am downloading transactions for an account that doesn’t have real-time transaction updates. And it’s frozen. However, I was able to close the window (X) and it seemed to be a successful update. We’ll see how that turns out on the others… ok, three of the four I had to close the window, but they seem current. Not sure of this is going to be an annoyance or it’s just a fluke.

I’m going to give it an honest try, since I have no other choice, really. I’ve tried GnuCash and that was definitely a step down. So we’ll see how quick things get.

The “have it” habit

Posted by anachostic on December 1, 2009 No comments

At dinner tonight, I had the opportunity to train a new employee. Not directly, but because nothing I ever do is simple, they got to experience exceptions to the order-taking routine. At the close of the transaction, I was going to say something to the effect of “Enjoy your employment, lucky person” but decided against it.

As I ate, I considered this a little further. I’m (still) employed. I’m doing ok. But at the same time, I’m a responsible employee and a quick learner. I could have that job! And since I’m still employed, I’m more desirable to employers because it shows I can keep a job. I should have that job.

But what kind of flack would I take for doing something like that? I’d be taking jobs away from someone who really needs one. “You already have a good job. Stop hoarding the jobs, jerk.” This transitioned my thinking into class warfare: the “have’s” and the “have not’s”. I think this needs revision. It’s the “have not’s”, the “have enough’s” and the “have more’s”. See, I want to advance from “have enough” to “have more”. And I could, because I’m not currently in the “have not” crowd.

But like I said, that’s not really fair. The rich get richer, as they derisively say. I would be suppressing the “have not’s” – the class below me – from advancing to the “have enough’s”. So, in order to spread some of the wealth, I will take that job. And another. And maybe another. Then I will outsource my jobs to another person who could not get the job on their own. Wait, it’s not really outsourcing, is it. Insourcing? No, not that either. No, it’s reverse subletting. I am going to sublet my jobs at a lower wage and take the difference as a “convenience fee”. It works for property, why not jobs?

But as usual, I’m so far behind the times. Of course, this is already done with day laborers, contract positions, and other temporary positions. But those are all handled by businesses. Businesses run by rich people. The “have more’s”. Once again, I’m getting held back by the man. It’s so hard to get ahead anymore. Woe is me.

Philosophical Murder

Posted by anachostic on November 27, 2009 No comments

Man: “I can’t date a woman who smokes. Do you smoke?”

Woman: “Only on a rare occasion.”

Man: “Then you mean to say yes.”

Woman: “Ok, wiseass. I can’t date a man who has killed another person. Have you killed anyone?”

Man: “Gee, I don’t know.”

How would you know? I let that big SUV cut in front of me on the highway. Did that give the driver the extra time needed to get to where that pedestrian was run over by a big SUV?

Trip Log 11/26/09

Posted by anachostic on November 26, 2009 No comments

In a previous blog entry, I took a ride to a local beach, but at the time the beach was closed for renovation, to be reopened in the fall. Well, now it’s the fall and I headed back out to see all the new and great changes that I’d nothing to previously compare to. It was a little late in the day, partly cloudy and about 65 degrees. I got a few blocks and decided, no, I am not going to make this trip without insulation. So I turned around and got my riding jacket’s rain liner, which is a great wind breaker as well.

Back on track, I realized, it’s pretty cold. But I pressed onward and I made good time because of my comfort level at higher speeds. Maybe a little over halfway there and I noticed there were some actual clouds ahead. If it started raining, I would be in a huge amount of trouble in this temperature. I got under the clouds and the temp dropped even further. But, no rain.

I made it to that park again and as fate would have it, the beach is still under construction. So, a good 1 and a half hour ride in the cold and wind for nothing. I need something to cheer me up. Oh, you poor thing. Have a donut.

Thank you, I will. That will have to do for now. It’s now mostly cloudy and the temperature drop I had earlier under the clouds is the new normal. So I slipped on my 2nd pair of slightly warmer riding gloves and blasted back home. So cold. So tired. So disappointed.

Trip Log 11/22/09

Posted by anachostic on November 22, 2009 No comments

Today was a beach trip. To a different beach, on a different route. That meant (oh boy) Interstate travel: 60 minutes at 70+ mph in chaotic conditions with a good wind. I could see that there were storms to the north and south, but I seemed pretty safe in my path.

An uneventful trip to the beach and a fairly empty parking lot. I had just gotten off the bike and gotten to the walkway when the parking authority vehicle pulled in. I walk back to his truck and asked if he could break a $20 for the meters. He told me not to worry and kept right on going. Slow day, I guess.

So I got my pictures and took a leisurely ride up and down the local roads. Not much traffic and what was there was casual. Stopped at a local place to have a lunch. The sandwich was not as I would have expected. What is the deal with sticking a huge pile of meat between slices of bread? You can’t get your mouth around it and all you taste is meat. There’s a balance when making a sandwich: the meat-to-bread ratio (or meat-to-bun as I originally termed it for fast food). You don’t want the flavor of the meat to be lost in the bread, nor do you want excess in the other direction. Some places just don’t get it.

I did bring along the Zune HD, but I didn’t get to do any Internet surfing. All the available networks were secured, insulting, or both.

So, I guess I won’t be going back there. I should have had the burger.

Cooking

Posted by anachostic on November 15, 2009 No comments

Ahhh. I just had a great meal, and I cooked it myself.

I hear you now. “What? Mr. I-eat-fast-food-three-meals-a-day-and-somehow-keep-living… cooks?” That’s right. And on top of that, I’m good at it. No, I’m awesome at it. I know this because I eat what I cook, and I’m one picky bastard, so my cooking must be awesome in order to meet my standards. Tonight it was a simple, fairly healthy meal of steak and rice. Ok, chopped steak and rice. Ok, it was actually hamburger and rice, only it was made so awesome it could have been steak.

Some of you might be saying, “Rice? that’s so bland and boring.” or “I can’t eat rice, they look like maggots.” Well, if you were eating with me, you’d be eating it because I make it right. And I’m going to share the recipe. There’s a special ingredient you might need to go to the store to buy, but it’s worth it. Now, here’s the ingredient list:

2 cups Rice
1/4 stick of butter

Yeah, I know. It’s awesome. You people who think you have a bowl of maggots in front of you aren’t going to complain when that larvae is coated in a thick layer of butter. And rice is boring? Try eating my rice with chopsticks. That’ll keep you busy. And thanks to the wondrous power of butter, it’s awesome.

Now, the entrée: steak/burger/whatever. There is a special art to seasoning beef before cooking it. I’ve seen plenty of marinades, rubs, and spices, but I know what I like. After all, I eat at Outback and Longhorn enough to get a taste of good seasoning. So, here’s my custom seasoning blend for my burgers:

Salt

If I wasn’t already employed, I’d be opening my own restaurant. I’m saying, it’s that good.

I remember when I first moved out and had never cooked for myself before. It could be the reason why I eat out all the time. But anyway, I took the time and mastered the art of cooking. All you people who say “I’ve never cooked. I can’t even cook a burger. Fire scares me.” Here’s my step-by-step instructions to cooking a burger:

Shut up
Buy a George Foreman grill
Cook a burger

I was going to write a book on this special technique, but figured the information is better in the public domain. If you fail to cook your burger properly, simply follow the directions again. Pay close attention to the first step – it’s the most critical. If you can’t get a good burger after five attempts. Throw all your George Foreman grills away and just disregard steps 2 and 3.

I’ll have to take the time someday to explain the killer grilled cheese sandwiches I make, but I’ll close with a tip on making tea drinkable. If you don’t like tea, it’s because you don’t have enough sugar in it. It’s that simple. In fact, I’ll bet you can eat concrete if you have enough butter, salt and sugar available.

Killing Creativity

Posted by anachostic on October 9, 2009 No comments

I am getting so old.

The pieces are finally coming together to allow me to start recording again. Windows 7: check. New Cubase 5: check. Now we’re ready to configure the recording setup.

Using an Emu 0404 as input, I have two mono inputs for my use. Outboard, I have a Mackie 1642 that will do mixing duties for traditional gear. It has 4 mono busses, so I routed two of them to the 0404’s inputs. That will let me selectively choose what inputs I want to record. Aside from having a cable plugged into the wrong port in the back, it was a snap. The physical is simple. The virtual is a little unknown to me, which is where I felt old.

The request I wanted seemed simple: I did not want to monitor the input. If I wanted to monitor the input, I would do it through Cubase, which would send it to the main output. Obviously I want to monitor the main output. Reading through documentation (ugh), I found some diagrams that seemed to explain what needed to be done. The 0404 talks to the input and the speakers through physical connections. Cubase talks to the 0404 (not the input and not the speakers) through virtual connections – ASIO connections.

So after a good hour of tweaking, I got the routing correct and working. Then, just to prove to myself that I understood what was going on, I reset everything to defaults and started over. But after resetting everything, it worked without any tweaks. So now I don’t even know what to think.

Bottom line is, I’m not doing anything musical tonight. No wonder those that can afford studio time just do it.

Ride to Eat, Eat to Ride

Posted by anachostic on October 4, 2009 No comments

Just a couple of random bike trips for food. The first was to a place I’d not heard of before, although there are a few locations around here: Village Inn. I hoped this would be like a King’s or Eat & Park from the northern area, but was a bit disappointed. I tried the staple meal – burger and fries – but the burger had some seasoning or spice that wasn’t suiting me very well at all. I could only eat a few bites of it.

It’s not all bad. I gave up on the entrée and went to dessert. The chocolate pie was excellent and made up for most of the meal’s failure.

Then I went out to tourist country and ate at a Ponderosa. It’s a location I’d been to before when I was not a local resident. Interesting how differently you act towards attractions when you could go there every day… Not that Ponderosa is an attraction, but Old Town is right there and it’s Halloween, which means they have a big push on the haunted house.

This meal I was treated to the excellent stories of a very special person behind me. My impression is that he sees himself as some sort of consumer superhero. As I understand the story, superboy was performing some bank transaction through the automated telephone service and answered some personal verification question wrong. This immediately locked his account. To resolve this, he called the bank directly. I have no idea why, but he felt it necessary to disguise his voice, taking on the tone of an agitated old man with respiratory issues. “Yes, this is so-an-so *cough cough hack snork* and you have locked my *cough COUGH* account with your damn computer *gag hack*.” During this trial to get him verified, he answered all the questions correctly. If he didn’t know one (and I’m not sure why he wouldn’t know his personal information), he would have a coughing fit to buy time. Using typical hyperbole, he said they asked him a hundred questions. Then using some sort of hybrid of hyperbole and stupidity, he said they asked him for his grandmother’s maiden name, but he answered using her married name. The only thing I can deduce from these facts is that he was faking access to his father’s account (which would be his father’s mother’s maiden name).

Superboy goes off on a tangent. Now he’s pissed because everything’s a ripoff. Drinks are $2.50 (“that’s where they get ya”). The onion rings cost an extra dollar (“That’s a scam. They asked me if I wanted onion rings but never said it’d be an extra dollar.”). But like my Village Inn dessert, it wasn’t all bad (“The 10% coupon I used paid for the extra charge for onion rings”) , but at the same time, he wasn’t letting go. He somehow changes gears and relates a story about how he had to give a 7 cent refund to a customer because they felt they were incorrectly charged tax on a dollar item and how stupid and petty it was. He somehow fails to relate his current bitching about the dollar upcharge to this story.

Please let me out of here.

Singularly Open-Minded

Posted by anachostic on August 5, 2009 No comments

A while ago I was browsing around and someone had mentioned a blog that sounded interesting, so I visited. It was ok for the first couple of posts, then I left. Recently, I hit upon another blog that gave me the same reaction. In both cases, the blogs were trying to be raise awareness. The first about racial stereotypes and the second about racial and gender biases.

I consider myself to be pretty open minded. I’ll listen to anything, but I tend to just collect the information to form a complete opinion. The more opinions you hear, the better able you are make your own. But some people have one opinion and spout it ad nauseam. And sometimes those people think they are being open-minded simply because their obsession is a minority position or some other radical thought. But they’re still closed-minded, or as I say, singularly open-minded.

So, thinking about this idea made me wonder how being open-minded related to being uncommitted. Can you be truly open-minded and still have an opinion or does having an opinion give you an artificial bias? And maybe it has to do with the level of acceptance of differing viewpoints. You can hold an opinion until the opposing arguments convince you otherwise.

And that’s one area I take issue with the blogs that I had read. I can only take so much “selling” at one time. I must have determined quickly that the remaining posts would be more of the same. The more I hear an argument, the less persuasive it becomes. Some of it is: You’re trying too hard. If your idea was so good, you shouldn’t need to go on and on about it. The other part is cynicism. If you don’t shut up for a minute and let me consider what you’ve said, I’m not going to believe any of it.

Now I’m getting all worked up. Thanks.

Trip Log 7/23/09

Posted by anachostic on July 23, 2009 No comments

This actually isn’t a motorcycle trip. It was a business trip. As such, a lot of the details are hush-hush, but the trip itself – travelling – is something I don’t do as much of as I used to.

To start the whole trip on a great note, I don’t even make it to the airport garage without incident. There are new traffic patterns I was unfamiliar with and when one sign says “Economy parking/post office next left” and a later temporary construction sign simply says “Post office”, I did not make the turn for economy parking. So one loop around the terminal so I can be logged into NSA’s database as suspicious, then back to economy parking from the other direction, which had no construction.

Step 1 complete; I’m parked. The shuttle bus is waiting and I hop on. The bus will stop at the Blue side first, then the Red side. Fine, I’m red. We arrive at the red side and I get off the bus. I’m the last one off because I’m not really in a hurry. The lone luggage bag left in front of the bus is not my bag. Suddenly, I feel I bit more in a hurry. I grab the bag and walk back onto the bus to explain what has happened. The driver was kind enough to drive back to the other side to see if there were some people freaking out that they had the wrong bag. There were no people like that there. I gave the driver my cell number and he said he would take the bag and my number to Lost and Found. Meanwhile, I had to get my boarding pass, with or without luggage.

The trip I was taking for business was at a resort literally in the middle of nowhere. 1.5 hour drive from any metro area. I was wondering if I could wear the same jeans for three days and maybe buy some souvenir shirts to wear the other days. I guess I could have shopped at the airport, too, but that thought wasn’t coming to me then. I walked down to baggage claim looking for Lost and Found. I found instead a security guard, who told me I needed to be back upstairs and across the road. Then he did something extra: he said he’d walk me there. That’s pretty important to my trip because the purpose of the business meeting was to extol the virtues of service, which the security guard had just demonstrated.

So we got to L&F and I fill out the contact form. The lady at the counter, again – pleasant, said that they already received the other person’s bag from the shuttle driver, they had contacted the owner, and that they would handle the exchange. Simple enough, as long as these people – who didn’t recognize their bag had a handle wrap on it and mine didn’t – show up before I have to run to my gate. As it turned out, it was only about 15 minutes that I had to wait and the crisis was averted.

The rest of the trip was pretty uneventful, but the business portion was very good. The accommodations were impressive.

Being a remote resort area, it had a lot of walking paths and lots of greenery. It would be a botanist’s dream.

The only critique I could make, and I regret thinking of it now because I should have filled out a comment card, is that the whole place needed more garbage cans. You walk around a lot and typically you’re drinking something, but then you have to carry your trash around looking for a place to throw it away. I remember only one public garbage can.

So early in the morning we all headed back to the airport. I made the wise decision to walk from the entrance to the terminal instead of talking the tram. It didn’t seem too bad, the map even said 1000 ft to next terminal. Something wasn’t quite right though, because it seemed like I walked through an extra terminal or two. All told (thanks to Bing’s unit conversion), it was well over a mile I walked. Before breakfast. I’m a bastard when I’m tired or hungry, so I had both going on when I got to the gate. Unsurprisingly, a kiosk was very willing to take 8 dollars from me in exchange for a bag of chips, a bottle of Coke, and a bag of candy.

Boarding time. Looks like we’re early. And the staff was giving out coupons for free Internet on the plane. I didn’t feel like Internetting, so I passed. All settled in and ready to go. And we’re not going. Still not. Half an hour later, I’ve worked through 75% of my bag of candy and getting restless. More waiting. Finally, the answer comes out. They were trying to fix the computers for the Internet, they couldn’t, and so we’re an hour late and the coupons can’t be used on that flight (save them for another flight).

We’re back now. I got the same shuttle driver and I’m the only one on the shuttle. Will I lose my bag again? We chatted about the luggage experience and service and other minor topics. I tipped him at the garage. It’s really something I don’t normally do, and really not sure he deserved it, but I intended it to be a nice gesture that showed I was satisfied with the service of everyone at the airport: him, the Lost and Found department, and the security guard that escorted me.

Thank god. I can head home and eat. Oh wait, there’s new traffic patterns at the airport. This new road is nice. There’s my exit up ahead…. but this road doesn’t connect to that exit. Now I’m going off the opposite direction. Damn it. Another 20 minutes of time lost. Finally, the drama ends and I’m in familiar territory and here I am recounting it to the best person in the world.

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